Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.50.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TDS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Telephone and Data Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TDS opened at $36.75 on Tuesday. Telephone and Data Systems has a twelve month low of $31.51 and a twelve month high of $49.12. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.96 and its 200 day moving average is $39.27. The company has a current ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $2.15. The firm had revenue of $309.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.78 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 33.20%.Telephone and Data Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 5.33%.

Institutional Trading of Telephone and Data Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,482,147 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $272,898,000 after buying an additional 90,097 shares in the last quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 10.0% in the first quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 4,623,934 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $194,668,000 after purchasing an additional 420,340 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP grew 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 worth $180,703,000 after buying an additional 603,857 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,415,553 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $99,053,000 after purchasing an additional 66,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 140 Summer Partners LP increased its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP now owns 1,315,306 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $53,928,000 after buying an additional 66,148 shares during the last quarter. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Telephone and Data Systems

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc (NYSE: TDS) is a diversified telecommunications company that provides broadband, voice, video, wireless and managed communications services in the United States. Its operations primarily serve residential, business and government customers in smaller cities, suburban communities and rural markets.

TDS Telecom is the company’s primary operating business. It delivers high-speed internet, fiber-based connectivity, traditional and digital voice services, video entertainment, hosted and managed services, and other communications solutions.