Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.3333.

A number of equities analysts have commented on TDS shares. Zacks Research cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. 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 research note on Monday, February 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telephone and Data Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the third quarter worth about $144,732,000. Carronade Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 239.3% during the 2nd quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,392,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $120,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392,500 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new position in Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,395,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Telephone and Data Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,531,000. 80.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:TDS opened at $41.83 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.14. Telephone and Data Systems has a 12-month low of $31.07 and a 12-month high of $47.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a positive return on equity of 2.25% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.Telephone and Data Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.10) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -24.62%.

Telephone and Data Systems Company 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.