Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Short Interest Down 18.8% in May

Posted by on Jun 17th, 2022

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB – Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,170,000 shares, a decline of 18.8% from the May 15th total of 1,440,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 665,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.22. 12,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,059,810. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 3.10. Photronics has a 52 week low of $11.65 and a 52 week high of $23.04.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 25th. The semiconductor company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.14. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $204.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Photronics will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Photronics news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 11,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.54, for a total value of $189,895.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,639,668.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $30,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 72,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,085,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,481 shares of company stock valued at $297,716. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Photronics by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,320 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,487 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 100,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 11,485 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 60,707 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 15,631 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 147,920 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

Several research firms have recently commented on PLAB. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Photronics from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Photronics in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on Photronics from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Photronics from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 25th.

About Photronics (Get Rating)

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, Korea, Europe, China, and internationally. The company offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, FDP substrates, and other types of electrical and optical components.

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