Zacks Research Upgrades Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) to Hold

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore initiated coverage on Cohu in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Cohu from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Cohu Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Cohu stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $44.26. The stock had a trading volume of 146,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,820. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.77 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 6.88, a quick ratio of 5.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Cohu has a 1 year low of $15.13 and a 1 year high of $46.63.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $122.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.09 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 16.40%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cohu will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cohu

In related news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $38,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 175,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,657,676. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COHU. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Cohu in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,960,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cohu by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $101,484,000 after acquiring an additional 57,618 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Cohu by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,918,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Cohu by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,819,530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cohu by 131.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,909,000 after acquiring an additional 863,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.