Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) Stock Price Down 6.1% – Here’s Why

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) shares fell 6.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $39.40 and last traded at $38.6790. 520,029 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 930,696 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TDS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Telephone and Data Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.15 and a beta of 0.33.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.98. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 6.15%.The firm had revenue of $309.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is 30.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telephone and Data Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Carronade Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 8.5% during the third quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,680,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $144,423,000 after acquiring an additional 288,000 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 21.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 456,451 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $17,911,000 after acquiring an additional 80,670 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 244.2% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 45,152 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 32,035 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $144,732,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 343.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,597 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 30,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

Telephone and Data Systems Company Profile

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc (NYSE: TDS) is a diversified telecommunications company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides a broad array of communications services, including wireless voice and data, wireline broadband and voice, cable television, and managed IT and cloud solutions. Its two primary operating units—TDS Telecom and U.S. Cellular—serve residential, business and wholesale customers across the United States.

TDS Telecom focuses on delivering broadband internet, digital voice, video and data communications services in primarily rural and suburban markets.