Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Board Initiates Stock Buyback Program

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:KLIC traded down $0.99 on Wednesday, reaching $47.05. 575,144 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 492,386. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.35. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12 month low of $38.20 and a 12 month high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This is an increase from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently -76.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KLIC shares. Craig Hallum lowered their price target on 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.33.

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.