Short Interest in Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) Declines By 13.3%

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a decrease of 13.3% from the December 31st total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 570,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Tower Semiconductor Price Performance

Tower Semiconductor stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.16. The company had a trading volume of 462,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 5.82 and a quick ratio of 4.89. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.55. Tower Semiconductor has a 12-month low of $28.11 and a 12-month high of $55.31. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 0.88.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $370.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $370.30 million. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Tower Semiconductor will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum increased their target price on Tower Semiconductor from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Tower Semiconductor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a report on Monday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Tower Semiconductor from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tower Semiconductor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the third quarter worth about $27,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the third quarter worth about $38,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Tower Semiconductor by 319.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Tower Semiconductor by 21.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. 70.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tower Semiconductor Company Profile

Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an independent semiconductor foundry, focus on specialty process technologies to manufacture analog intensive mixed-signal semiconductor devices in Israel, the United States, Japan, Europe, and internationally. It provides various customizable process technologies, including SiGe, BiCMOS, mixed signal/CMOS, RF CMOS, CMOS image sensor, integrated power management, and MEMS.