Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Shares of Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $47.42 and last traded at $48.28, with a volume of 51674 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SIMO shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Silicon Motion Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.63.

Silicon Motion Technology Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 11.29%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology's payout ratio is currently 74.35%.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor producer to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,948 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,959 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP boosted its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 10,773 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 61.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,152 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 5,668 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 78.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Silicon Motion Technology Company Profile

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.