Norges Bank Takes $22.21 Million Position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 541,663 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,208,000. Norges Bank owned 0.47% of Telephone and Data Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 25.8% during 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,572 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the first quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 358.3% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 27,043 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 21,142 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Telephone and Data Systems in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Telephone and Data Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Up 0.3%

Telephone and Data Systems stock opened at $39.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.64. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 3.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.23 and a beta of 0.28.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.98. The firm had revenue of $309.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.19%.

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.