Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 236,635 Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 236,635 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,702,000. Telephone and Data Systems comprises about 2.2% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TDS. Carronade Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 8.5% during the third quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,680,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $144,423,000 after purchasing an additional 288,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 343.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,597 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 30,670 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 244.2% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 45,152 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 32,035 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $144,732,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 208.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 301,529 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $12,363,000 after purchasing an additional 203,856 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TDS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Telephone and Data Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:TDS opened at $39.77 on Tuesday. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.69. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 75.03 and a beta of 0.28.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.98. The business had revenue of $309.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be 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 is Tuesday, June 16th. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is 30.19%.

Telephone and Data Systems Company 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.