Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) Stock Rating Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

TDS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:TDS traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.44. The company had a trading volume of 963,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,811,377. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.36. Telephone and Data Systems has a 52 week low of $30.45 and a 52 week high of $49.12.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.15. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 43.41%. The company had revenue of $306.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.91%.

Institutional Trading of Telephone and Data Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TDS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,482,147 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $272,898,000 after acquiring an additional 90,097 shares in the last quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 10.0% during the first quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 4,623,934 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $194,668,000 after purchasing an additional 420,340 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 16.4% during the first quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 4,292,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $180,703,000 after purchasing an additional 603,857 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 0.5% in the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,535,800 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $52,094,000 after buying an additional 7,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the second quarter valued at about $31,096,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.00% of the company’s stock.

About Telephone and Data Systems

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS) is a U.S. telecommunications company founded in 1969. Its TDS Telecom business provides broadband, video and voice services to residential and business customers, using fiber and other wired networks as well as fixed wireless in some areas. TDS Telecom serves communities across multiple U.S. states, including smaller and rural markets. Its offerings include high-speed internet access, television service and business communications solutions. TDS has also operated wireless telecommunications businesses during its history.