Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS Shares Bought by Oaktree Capital Management LP

Oaktree Capital Management LP grew its position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 16.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,292,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 603,857 shares during the quarter. Telephone and Data Systems makes up 2.3% of Oaktree Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Oaktree Capital Management LP owned approximately 3.77% of Telephone and Data Systems worth $180,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the third quarter worth $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,395,000. VR Advisory Services Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $23,493,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,044,166 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $42,811,000 after acquiring an additional 553,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $22,208,000. 80.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE TDS opened at $33.95 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 64.06 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.01 and a 52-week high of $49.12.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.98. The company had revenue of $309.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.27 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 6.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TDS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.