Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.3333.

TDS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Telephone and Data Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TDS opened at $40.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.43 and a quick ratio of 3.42. Telephone and Data Systems has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $49.12. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.65 and a beta of 0.28.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.98. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 6.15%.The company had revenue of $309.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. Telephone and Data Systems’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 699 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 681 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 121.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 830 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 2,779.5% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,123 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. 80.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Telephone and Data Systems

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.