Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 203,856 Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 208.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,529 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 203,856 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.26% of Telephone and Data Systems worth $12,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TDS. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $144,732,000. Carronade Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 239.3% in 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 buying an additional 2,392,500 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,395,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in Telephone and Data Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,531,000. Institutional investors own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

Shares of TDS opened at $41.98 on Friday. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.07 and a 52-week high of $47.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.58 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

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

Telephone and Data Systems 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.