GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Reduces Stock Position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Key Points

• GABELLI & Co Investment Advisers cut its stake in Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) by 79.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 43,428 shares and leaving it with 11,000 shares valued at about $451,000.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, but the overall view is “Hold”: the stock has a consensus target price of $53.33, with recent moves including a Citigroup upgrade to Buy and other firms downgrading ratings.
• TDS recently reported better-than-expected earnings, posting $1.11 EPS versus the expected loss, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share, or $0.16 annually.

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. lessened its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS - Free Report) by 79.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 43,428 shares during the quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.'s holdings in Telephone and Data Systems were worth $451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 681 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 699 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 121.3% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 830 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 191.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TDS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Telephone and Data Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Telephone and Data Systems has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

NYSE TDS opened at $40.53 on Monday. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $49.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.48 and a beta of 0.33. The company's 50 day moving average is $44.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.98. The company had revenue of $309.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $313.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. As a group, research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.19%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TDS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS - Free Report).

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.