Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.63.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SIMO. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Monday, December 23rd.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Up 1.3 %

SIMO stock opened at $56.50 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.44. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.71. Silicon Motion Technology has a 12-month low of $48.81 and a 12-month high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Silicon Motion Technology 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.35%.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 5th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor producer to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SIMO. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 15.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,215 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Silicon Motion Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,826,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 36.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 570,816 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $34,671,000 after buying an additional 152,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 27.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,239,574 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $136,032,000 after acquiring an additional 485,862 shares during the period. 78.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.