Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $32.94 and last traded at $33.2740, with a volume of 52668 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Telephone and Data Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 62.79 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.79.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.98. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The business had revenue of $309.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is 30.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TDS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,482,147 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $272,898,000 after purchasing an additional 90,097 shares during the last quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 4,623,934 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $194,668,000 after acquiring an additional 420,340 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 16.4% in the first quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 4,292,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $180,703,000 after acquiring an additional 603,857 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,049,385 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $166,025,000 after acquiring an additional 58,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,415,553 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $99,053,000 after acquiring an additional 66,814 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.