Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the September 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 344,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other news, Director Nina Richardson sold 4,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total value of $120,675.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,313 shares in the company, valued at $683,475.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 5,399 shares of company stock valued at $130,204 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COHU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cohu by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,303,097 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $143,422,000 after purchasing an additional 137,475 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cohu by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,161,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $104,638,000 after purchasing an additional 51,640 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Cohu by 54.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 905,309 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,966,000 after acquiring an additional 320,234 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 746,680 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $24,887,000 after buying an additional 49,892 shares during the period. Finally, Divisar Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cohu by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Divisar Capital Management LLC now owns 540,183 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $17,880,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cohu Stock Down 1.1 %

COHU traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $24.93. 337,715 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 309,931. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -498.60 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 6.95 and a quick ratio of 5.09. Cohu has a fifty-two week low of $22.80 and a fifty-two week high of $36.60. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.18.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $104.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.00 million. Cohu had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 5.70%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cohu will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COHU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut Cohu from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Cohu from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cohu from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cohu presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.00.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors.

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