Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $47.42 and last traded at $48.28, with a volume of 51674 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SIMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.63.

Silicon Motion Technology Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.71.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 11.63%. Equities research analysts expect that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. Silicon Motion Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.35%.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 5th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor producer to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SIMO. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 123.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,248 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 519.0% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Silicon Motion Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 78.02% of the company’s stock.

About Silicon Motion Technology

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.