Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.3333.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

TDS opened at $32.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.32. Telephone and Data Systems has a 1 year low of $31.51 and a 1 year high of $49.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.98. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 33.20% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $309.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. Telephone and Data Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the third quarter valued at $55,395,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Telephone and Data Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,096,000. Oaktree Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 16.4% during the first quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 4,292,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $180,703,000 after buying an additional 603,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VR Advisory Services Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 4th quarter worth $23,493,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

About Telephone and Data Systems

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.