Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $4.79, but opened at $5.11. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) shares last traded at $5.01, with a volume of 13,036,546 shares trading hands.

The communications equipment provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.02. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a negative net margin of 9.82% and a positive return on equity of 11.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.1293 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This is an increase from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s previous dividend of $0.08. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s payout ratio is -23.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ERIC. TheStreet raised shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 146,286,324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $921,604,000 after acquiring an additional 4,351,420 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,148,737 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,537,000 after acquiring an additional 540,022 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,309,599 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 89,443 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,930,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 4,904.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 835,784 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 819,083 shares during the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Company Profile

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile connectivity solutions for telcom operators and enterprise customers in various sectors in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, North East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania, and India. It operates in four segments: Networks; Cloud Software and Services; Enterprise; and Other.