Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Ericsson, with five hold, two buy, and one sell rating among eight brokerages. The average 12-month price target is $11.00, compared with the stock’s $10.10 opening price.
• Ericsson reported quarterly revenue of $5.43 billion and earnings of $0.13 per share, while analysts expect full-year earnings of $0.61 per share. The company posted a 10.72% net margin and 20.63% return on equity.
• The company paid a $0.1579 dividend, representing a 28.21% payout ratio. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 7.99% of Ericsson’s outstanding shares.

Shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.00.

ERIC has been the topic of several research reports. Danske upgraded Ericsson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ericsson in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ericsson from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th.

Ericsson Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ERIC opened at $10.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $34.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.23 and a 200-day moving average of $11.28. Ericsson has a one year low of $7.87 and a one year high of $13.77.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter. Ericsson had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 10.72%.The company had revenue of $5.43 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ericsson will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ericsson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a $0.1579 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 29th. Ericsson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ericsson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ericsson by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 250,389 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,123,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Ericsson by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 42,902 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 2,869 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Ericsson in the third quarter worth $28,000. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Ericsson by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 39,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ericsson by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 134,891 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 9,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.99% of the company's stock.

About Ericsson

Ericsson AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Stockholm. Founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson, the company designs, develops and sells infrastructure, software and services that enable mobile and fixed-line networks worldwide. Ericsson serves a global customer base that includes mobile network operators, enterprise customers and public-sector organizations across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

The company's core activities center on building and modernizing network infrastructure, with a particular focus on radio access networks (RAN), core network software, cloud-native solutions and network management systems.

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