Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $9.60

Key Points

• Analysts generally rate Ericsson “Hold.” Of six brokerages, four recommend holding, one rates it a sell and one a buy; the average 12-month price target is $9.60.
• Ericsson’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.18 versus $0.14 expected and revenue of $5.94 billion versus the $5.59 billion consensus estimate. Revenue rose 5.8% year over year.
• The stock opened at $10.66, above its average analyst target, and trades below its 52-week high of $13.77. Ericsson also recently paid a $0.1579-per-share dividend, with a 31.15% payout ratio.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.60.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ERIC shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ericsson in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ericsson from $11.40 to $10.20 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Danske downgraded shares of Ericsson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ericsson from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ericsson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th.

Ericsson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ERIC opened at $10.66 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $9.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.92. Ericsson has a fifty-two week low of $9.03 and a fifty-two week high of $13.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Ericsson had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 8.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ericsson will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ericsson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, September 29th. Ericsson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Ericsson during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,812,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Ericsson by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 160,581 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 12,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Ericsson in the 1st quarter valued at $493,000. Institutional investors own 7.99% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.