Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.75.

COHU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cohu from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nina Richardson sold 3,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $157,454.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 39,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,853.22. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Andrew Caggia sold 15,252 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.74, for a total value of $789,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 64,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,351,613.72. This trade represents a 19.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 85,101 shares of company stock valued at $4,914,333 over the last ninety days. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth about $269,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the second quarter worth approximately $1,224,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cohu during the second quarter worth approximately $244,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Cohu during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,839,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Cohu during the second quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:COHU opened at $63.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.75 and a beta of 1.58. Cohu has a 1-year low of $18.67 and a 1-year high of $74.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $52.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a current ratio of 5.74.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $149.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.20 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 7.43% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. Cohu’s quarterly revenue was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.02 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cohu will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a semiconductor test and inspection equipment company that develops products used throughout the semiconductor manufacturing process. Its portfolio includes semiconductor test handlers, test contactors, inspection and metrology systems, thermal-management solutions, and software for managing and analyzing test data.

The company’s equipment helps semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers handle, connect, test, inspect, and characterize packaged semiconductor devices.