Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Receives $53.33 Average PT from Analysts

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.3333.

TDS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

TDS opened at $44.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.19 and a beta of 0.31. Telephone and Data Systems has a 12-month low of $31.07 and a 12-month high of $47.79.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio is -24.62%.

Institutional Trading of Telephone and Data Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,026 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 681 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,804 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 14,362 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,866 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

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.