Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $199.86.

Several research firms recently issued reports on OLED. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective on shares of Universal Display in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $161.00) on shares of Universal Display in a report on Friday, January 19th. TheStreet upgraded Universal Display from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $210.00) on shares of Universal Display in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Universal Display from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal Display

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OLED. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Universal Display in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Universal Display during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Universal Display during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Universal Display by 1,977.8% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 187 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Universal Display in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.19% of the company’s stock.

Universal Display Price Performance

Shares of OLED stock opened at $159.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.64, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.45. Universal Display has a fifty-two week low of $125.98 and a fifty-two week high of $194.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $170.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.18.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $158.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.08 million. Universal Display had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 35.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Universal Display will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Universal Display’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Universal Display’s payout ratio is 37.74%.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation engages in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for use in display and solid-state lighting applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers PHOLED technologies and materials for displays and lighting products under the UniversalPHOLED brand.