Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 29th, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the November 14th total of 2,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 834,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.
Shares of TDS traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.02. The stock had a trading volume of 645,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,235. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 1.02. Telephone & Data Systems has a 52 week low of $21.44 and a 52 week high of $37.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.04 and a 200 day moving average of $27.09.
Telephone & Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.08). Telephone & Data Systems had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Telephone & Data Systems will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Telephone & Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.41%.
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Telephone & Data Systems by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 68,196 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,073,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone & Data Systems in the second quarter valued at about $99,000. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. raised its holdings in Telephone & Data Systems by 110.4% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. now owns 88,412 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 46,395 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Telephone & Data Systems by 90.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 112,670 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $3,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan boosted its position in Telephone & Data Systems by 2.2% during the second quarter. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan now owns 17,330 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.78% of the company’s stock.
TDS has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet lowered Telephone & Data Systems from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Telephone & Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Telephone & Data Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.38.
Telephone & Data Systems Company Profile
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc, a telecommunications company, provides wireless, cable and wireline broadband, TV, voice, and hosted and managed services in the United States. It operates through three segments: U.S. Cellular, Wireline, and Cable. The company offers cellular services to postpaid and prepaid customers, including retail consumers, government entities, and small-to-mid-size business customers in industries, such as the construction, retail, agriculture, professional services, and real estate; and national plans with voice, messaging, and data usage options.
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