Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.19 (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 23rd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, September 21st will be given a dividend of 0.19 per share by the semiconductor company on Tuesday, October 10th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 20th.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries has raised its dividend by an average of 13.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a dividend payout ratio of 35.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Kulicke and Soffa Industries to earn $2.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.2%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLIC opened at $48.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.63. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a fifty-two week low of $35.95 and a fifty-two week high of $60.20.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The semiconductor company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.23. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $190.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 48.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 180,076 shares in the company, valued at $10,804,560. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,069,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 180,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,804,560. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,084 shares of company stock worth $1,099,626 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLIC. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 21,762 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $602,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 46.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 150,077 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,407,000 after acquiring an additional 10,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 59,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLIC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. B. Riley raised their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Craig Hallum lowered Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $60.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through two segments, Capital Equipment, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company manufactures and sells advanced displays; die-transfer, flip-chip, and TCB advanced packaging products; ball bonder, die-attach, electronics assembly, lithography, wafer-level bonder, and wedge bonder products; consumables, such as capillaries, dicing blades, and wedge bonds; and auto offline programming, KNet PLUS, and new product introduction/manufacturing execution system software products.