Norges Bank Buys Shares of 541,663 Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 541,663 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,208,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TDS. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $144,732,000. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,395,000. ThornTree Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $20,864,000. Finally, Carronade Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,680,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $144,423,000 after purchasing an additional 288,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

Shares of TDS opened at $39.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 74.23 and a beta of 0.28. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $49.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.43 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $42.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.64.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last announced its 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. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm had revenue of $309.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is presently 30.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TDS shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Telephone and Data Systems in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems 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.