Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 268,100 Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 268,100 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,539,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.24% of Telephone and Data Systems at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 8,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,544 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

Shares of TDS stock opened at $39.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.83 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.87. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.51 and a 52 week high of $42.74.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The Wireless communications provider reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Telephone and Data Systems had a positive return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 0.85%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is presently -16.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TDS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Telephone and Data Systems in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Telephone and Data Systems

In other Telephone and Data Systems news, Director Prudence E. Carlson sold 4,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total value of $171,402.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 311,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,973,692.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vicki L. Villacrez sold 26,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.02, for a total transaction of $1,027,552.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,715.08. This represents a 98.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 276,650 shares of company stock worth $10,690,789. 14.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Telephone and Data Systems Profile

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc, a telecommunications company, provides communications services in the United States. It operates through two segments: UScellular and TDS Telecom. The company offers wireless solutions to consumers, and business and government customers, including a suite of connected Internet of things (IoT) solutions, and software applications for monitor and control, business automation/operations, communication, fleet and asset management, smart water solutions, private cellular networks and custom, and end-to-end IoT solutions; wireless priority services and quality priority and preemption options; smartphones and other handsets, tablets, wearables, mobile hotspots, fixed wireless home internet, and IoT devices; and accessories, such as cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards, as well as consumer electronics, including audio, home automation and networking products.