Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Stock Now Rated “Reduce” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.60.

A number of research firms have issued reports on ERIC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ericsson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Ericsson from $11.40 to $10.20 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered Ericsson from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Danske cut Ericsson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th.

Ericsson Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:ERIC opened at $11.14 on Friday. Ericsson has a 12 month low of $9.03 and a 12 month high of $13.77. The firm has a market cap of $37.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.03 and its 200-day moving average is $10.93.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. Ericsson had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Ericsson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ericsson will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Ericsson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.1579 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 29th. Ericsson’s payout ratio is 32.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ericsson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ERIC. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ericsson by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,891 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Ericsson in the 2nd quarter worth $15,812,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 160,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 12,534 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in shares of Ericsson during the 1st quarter worth about $493,000. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ericsson Company Profile

Ericsson is a Swedish technology company that provides telecommunications equipment, software, and services to communications service providers and enterprise customers worldwide. Headquartered in Stockholm, the company develops infrastructure used to build and operate mobile and fixed networks, including solutions supporting 4G, 5G, and other advanced communications technologies.

Its main offerings include radio access network equipment, core network platforms, transport systems, network management software, cloud-based communications solutions, and related professional services.