Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) gets a Market Perform rating from Northland Securities, who initiated coverage on the chip maker, in a report issued on Tuesday. Intel shares were down 1.88% to $33.47 on Tuesday, and after-hours, shares were at $33.46 down 0.03%.
Consensus rating of Hold
Many analysts have come out with their verdict on the chip maker recently. In a research note on September 29th, Bank of America initiated coverage on Intel with a price target of $43. Canaccord Genuity analysts have a Hold rating on the chip maker and have raised the price target from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on September 11th. Analysts at Nomura, in a research note on September 10th, reiterated an Equal Weight rating on the stock, and raised the price target from $29 to $33. Overall, three analysts have a Sell rating on the chip maker; fifteen have recommended a Hold while fifteen have a Buy rating on Intel. One research analyst has a Strong Buy rating on Intel.
Presently, Intel has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $34.
Dividend hike expected from Intel
Intel recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per share to be paid on December 1st. The amount represents an annualized dividend of $0.90 and a dividend yield of 2.69%.
The dividend from Intel has been stagnant for quite a while now, which might not be going well with the shareholders. Analysts expect Intel to give a dividend hike in2015 provided the capital expenditure of the company is within limits.
Target for 2015
The main aim of Intel in 2015 should be to carve a relevant place for itself in the smartphone segment. Being a late entrant, the chip maker failed to capitalize on the growing mobile market. However, in recent times, Intel has seen some turnaround backed by deals, which are expected to bear fruits in 2105. In 2014, the company expects to ship 40 million tablets CPUs.
Recently, a report from Bloomberg noted that Intel has benefitted from the rising use of mobile internet, and the stock has been the best performer on the Dow Jones Industrial average, so far. Intel performed reasonably well in 2014 despite concerns over the PC market, and the company expects the momentum to continue in 2015, as well.
