Short Interest in Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) Increases By 5.3%

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,790,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the December 31st total of 3,600,000 shares. Currently, 13.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 499,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.6 days.

Camtek Stock Performance

CAMT traded down $2.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.31. 283,121 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 607,534. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.08, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 5.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.91. Camtek has a fifty-two week low of $69.83 and a fifty-two week high of $140.50.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. Camtek had a net margin of 26.53% and a return on equity of 24.21%. The business had revenue of $112.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Camtek will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Camtek

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CAMT. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its stake in Camtek by 119.3% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 818,123 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $66,159,000 after acquiring an additional 445,079 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Camtek by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 720,700 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $57,548,000 after purchasing an additional 373,400 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Camtek by 3,005.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 330,716 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,408,000 after purchasing an additional 320,066 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in Camtek by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,135,453 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $91,711,000 after buying an additional 279,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in Camtek by 21.5% in the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,515,452 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $121,734,000 after buying an additional 268,258 shares in the last quarter. 41.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAMT. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Camtek from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Northland Securities increased their target price on Camtek from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Camtek from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Camtek in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Camtek in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.44.

Camtek Company Profile

Camtek Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells inspection and metrology equipment for semiconductor industry. The company provides Eagle-i, a system that delivers 2D inspection and metrology capabilities; Eagle-AP, which addresses the advanced packaging market using software and hardware technologies that deliver superior 2D and 3D inspection and metrology capabilities on the same platform; and Golden Eagle, a panel inspection and metrology system to address the challenges fanout wafer level packaging applications.