Hennessy Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 268,100 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,539,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,342 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Telephone and Data Systems

In other Telephone and Data Systems news, CAO Anita J. Kroll sold 8,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $336,486.72. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $667,930.83. The trade was a 33.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Prudence E. Carlson sold 4,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total transaction of $171,402.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 311,005 shares in the company, valued at $11,973,692.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 276,650 shares of company stock valued at $10,690,789. 14.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Up 0.9%

TDS opened at $39.61 on Friday. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.51 and a fifty-two week high of $42.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.83 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.87.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The Wireless communications provider reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.04). Telephone and Data Systems had a positive return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 0.85%.The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is presently -16.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Telephone and Data Systems in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

About Telephone and Data Systems

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc, a telecommunications company, provides communications services in the United States. It operates through two segments: UScellular and TDS Telecom. The company offers wireless solutions to consumers, and business and government customers, including a suite of connected Internet of things (IoT) solutions, and software applications for monitor and control, business automation/operations, communication, fleet and asset management, smart water solutions, private cellular networks and custom, and end-to-end IoT solutions; wireless priority services and quality priority and preemption options; smartphones and other handsets, tablets, wearables, mobile hotspots, fixed wireless home internet, and IoT devices; and accessories, such as cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards, as well as consumer electronics, including audio, home automation and networking products.