Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS Shares Sold by Kerrisdale Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Kerrisdale Advisers LLC cut its Telephone and Data Systems stake by 45% in the second quarter, selling 134,208 shares and retaining 163,758 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 80%, with Bank of New York Mellon and Milestone Asset Management establishing new positions while several other firms increased their holdings.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $47.50 target price. TDS recently reported adjusted earnings of $2.24 per share, well above estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share.

Kerrisdale Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS - Free Report) by 45.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,758 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 134,208 shares during the period. Telephone and Data Systems comprises 1.5% of Kerrisdale Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Telephone and Data Systems worth $6,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,096,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,053,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 174.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,727 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 13.8% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 15,424 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 15.6% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,770 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,692 shares in the last quarter. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TDS shares. Zacks Research raised Telephone and Data Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial lowered Telephone and Data Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Telephone and Data Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Up 0.1%

TDS stock opened at $33.70 on Monday. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.51 and a fifty-two week high of $49.12. The company's 50 day moving average price is $34.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.32.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $2.15. The company had revenue of $309.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.78 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 33.20% and a return on equity of 11.97%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Telephone and Data Systems's dividend payout ratio is 5.33%.

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.

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