StockNews.com Upgrades Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Power Integrations in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Power Integrations Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of Power Integrations stock opened at $50.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.11. Power Integrations has a twelve month low of $50.95 and a twelve month high of $79.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.73.

Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.12). Power Integrations had a return on equity of 4.48% and a net margin of 7.69%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Power Integrations will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Power Integrations Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Power Integrations’s payout ratio is 147.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Power Integrations news, VP Clifford Walker sold 2,472 shares of Power Integrations stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.75, for a total value of $150,174.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 142,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,635,308.75. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Radu Barsan sold 10,393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $686,769.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,295 shares in the company, valued at $2,993,093.60. The trade was a 18.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,544 shares of company stock valued at $2,433,105 over the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Power Integrations

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of POWI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Power Integrations by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 537 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Power Integrations by 1,618.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Power Integrations by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 629 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Power Integrations by 133.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 674 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Power Integrations during the fourth quarter worth $51,000.

About Power Integrations

Power Integrations, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), and other electronic components and circuitry used in high-voltage power conversion worldwide. The company provides a range of alternating current to direct current power conversion products that address power supply ranging from less than one watt of output to approximately 500 watts of output for mobile-device chargers, consumer appliances, utility meters, LCD monitors, main and standby power supplies for desktop computers and TVs, LED lighting, and various other consumer and industrial applications, as well as power conversion in high-power applications comprising industrial motors, solar and wind-power systems, electric vehicles, and high-voltage DC transmission systems.