Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $34.84 and last traded at $35.36, with a volume of 107256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KLIC. StockNews.com raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Down 1.9 %

The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 292.53 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.36 and its 200-day moving average is $44.20.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. Analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 683.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 85.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,361,000 after purchasing an additional 44,429 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 150,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,794,000 after purchasing an additional 40,990 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 27.8% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,977,000 after purchasing an additional 19,279 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 32.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 48,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 11,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 163,491 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,628,000 after acquiring an additional 12,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.