Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.20 Per Share

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 21st will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the semiconductor company on Tuesday, January 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries has raised its dividend by an average of 13.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a payout ratio of 35.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $46.77 on Thursday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12-month low of $40.20 and a 12-month high of $60.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.05 and a 200 day moving average of $51.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 30,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,094,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,556,241.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 4,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total transaction of $199,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $958,487.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,094,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,556,241.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $205,000. 98.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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.