Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.04

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 26th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.04 per share by the Wireless communications provider on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%.

Telephone and Data Systems has raised its dividend by an average of 2.9% annually over the last three years. Telephone and Data Systems has a payout ratio of -94.1% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Telephone and Data Systems to earn ($0.19) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -84.2%.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

TDS traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.45. The company had a trading volume of 17,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,098,694. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Telephone and Data Systems has a 52 week low of $13.69 and a 52 week high of $34.75.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.19. Telephone and Data Systems had a positive return on equity of 1.12% and a negative net margin of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. Telephone and Data Systems’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TDS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Telephone and Data Systems from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

About Telephone and Data Systems

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.