STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $17.55 and last traded at $18.47, with a volume of 9029170 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on STMicroelectronics from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised STMicroelectronics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.34. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. On average, research analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STM. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in STMicroelectronics by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,475,384 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $111,750,000 after buying an additional 725,684 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 131.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,088 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $83,165,000 after acquiring an additional 938,097 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 576.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in STMicroelectronics by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,886,700 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,111,000 after purchasing an additional 490,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.