Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Amtech Systems in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Amtech Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amtech Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Amtech Systems Price Performance

ASYS opened at $20.67 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.96 million, a P/E ratio of 121.59 and a beta of 1.99. Amtech Systems has a one year low of $4.12 and a one year high of $25.71.

Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.05. Amtech Systems had a return on equity of 5.58% and a net margin of 3.11%.The company had revenue of $20.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.50 million. On average, analysts expect that Amtech Systems will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amtech Systems

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 235.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 352,624 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,425,000 after purchasing an additional 247,352 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Amtech Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,689,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 325,754 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after buying an additional 150,332 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Amtech Systems by 622.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 146,596 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 126,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Amtech Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Institutional investors own 50.21% of the company’s stock.

About Amtech Systems

Amtech Systems, Inc is a global supplier of capital equipment and aftermarket parts for the solar photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. The company’s solutions support key steps in wafer and cell production, offering both new machinery and spares designed to optimize yield, throughput and energy efficiency. Amtech operates through two primary segments: solar manufacturing and semiconductor & electronics packaging.

In its solar segment, Amtech provides diffusion furnaces, epitaxy reactors and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems used in high-volume solar cell fabrication.