Wall Street Zen Downgrades Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) to Sell

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on TDS. 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 raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Telephone and Data Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TDS opened at $44.80 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. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.93 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.75 and a 200 day moving average of $40.53. Telephone and Data Systems has a twelve month low of $31.07 and a twelve month high of $47.79.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $330.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a negative net margin of 0.21% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TDS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 42,165 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 8,640 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 67,125 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 11,769 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 58,721 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $2,275,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the first quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the second quarter valued at $241,000. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.