Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.04 on March 31st

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.04 per share by the Wireless communications provider on Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th.

Telephone and Data Systems has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.3%per year over the last three years. Telephone and Data Systems has a payout ratio of -64.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Telephone and Data Systems to earn ($0.20) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -80.0%.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

TDS opened at $43.42 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.50 and its 200 day moving average is $40.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.80 and a beta of 0.34. Telephone and Data Systems has a 12-month low of $31.07 and a 12-month high of $47.79.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $319.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a negative net margin of 0.21% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on TDS. Weiss Ratings raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective 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, Zacks Research cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.33.

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.