Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $58.70 and last traded at $58.6050, with a volume of 1115963 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COHU shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on Cohu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Cohu Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.22 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 6.43 and a quick ratio of 5.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.80.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cohu news, Director Steven J. Bilodeau sold 10,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total value of $460,026.45. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,399.20. The trade was a 16.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $608,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares in the company, valued at $16,103,217.28. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 90,668 shares of company stock worth $4,212,706 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cohu by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cohu by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cohu by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.