Brokerages Set Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Target Price at $53.33

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

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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. 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 upped their price target on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telephone and Data Systems

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TDS. Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $144,732,000. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,395,000. VR Advisory Services Ltd acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,493,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,044,166 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $42,811,000 after acquiring an additional 553,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE TDS opened at $44.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Telephone and Data Systems has a 52 week low of $31.07 and a 52 week high of $47.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of -67.90 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.05.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.23. Telephone and Data Systems had a negative net margin of 0.21% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. The company had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $319.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.