Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Short Interest Up 5.1% in September

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,510,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the September 15th total of 3,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 538,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days. Currently, 6.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KLIC shares. Craig Hallum dropped their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.33.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

KLIC traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.54. 504,993 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 487,628. The company has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of -37.16 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 1 year low of $38.20 and a 1 year high of $56.71. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.59.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $181.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.28 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a positive return on equity of 0.61% and a negative net margin of 7.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -67.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the first quarter valued at $29,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 53.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 17,075.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,374 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the second quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1,900.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.