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

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the January 15th total of 1,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 321,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COHU. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Cohu by 219.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 27,237 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 18,709 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cohu in the third quarter valued at $528,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Cohu by 286.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 107,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 79,890 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cohu by 46.4% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 521,047 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,391,000 after acquiring an additional 165,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Cohu by 59.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,823 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,297 shares in the last quarter. 94.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cohu Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of COHU stock traded up $0.19 on Tuesday, hitting $21.31. The stock had a trading volume of 503,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,242. The firm has a market capitalization of $993.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.73 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.63 and its 200-day moving average is $25.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.69 and a current ratio of 6.38. Cohu has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $36.60.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.35% and a negative return on equity of 1.01%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cohu will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COHU. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Cohu from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Cohu from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Cohu from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.57.

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.