Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) Raised to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Millicom (NASDAQ:TIGO) from "strong sell" to "hold"; the stock's analyst mix is five Buys, one Hold and one Sell, with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.64.
• Millicom beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.50 EPS versus $1.05 expected and $1.65B in revenue versus $1.49B expected, with revenue up 15.7% year-over-year and a 22.62% net margin.
• Major institutions have been buying sizable stakes—JPMorgan, Perpetual, Northwestern Mutual and Goldman Sachs all recently increased or initiated positions—signaling strong hedge fund interest.

Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TIGO. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Millicom International Cellular from $43.00 to $51.20 and gave the company a "sector underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. HSBC upgraded shares of Millicom International Cellular from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Millicom International Cellular from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley restated a "positive" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Millicom International Cellular in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Millicom International Cellular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Millicom International Cellular has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.64.

Millicom International Cellular Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TIGO opened at $81.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $70.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.08. Millicom International Cellular has a twelve month low of $26.35 and a twelve month high of $82.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. Millicom International Cellular had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Millicom International Cellular will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Millicom International Cellular

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TIGO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Millicom International Cellular by 348.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,459,716 shares of the technology company's stock worth $313,555,000 after purchasing an additional 5,020,602 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Millicom International Cellular by 5,283.2% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,731,971 shares of the technology company's stock worth $132,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,221 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in Millicom International Cellular in the 1st quarter worth about $50,664,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Millicom International Cellular by 46,519.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,263,376 shares of the technology company's stock worth $70,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden bought a new position in Millicom International Cellular in the 4th quarter worth about $60,459,000.

Millicom International Cellular Company Profile

Millicom International Cellular SA, trading under the TIGO brand, is a Luxembourg‐headquartered telecommunications and media company that provides a range of mobile, cable broadband, digital television and enterprise services. Through its integrated infrastructure, the company delivers voice and data connectivity, high‐speed internet access and pay‐television packages to millions of customers, supported by ongoing investments in network coverage and capacity.

Established in 1990 by Swedish investor Jan Stenbeck, Millicom has grown into a multi‐regional operator focused primarily on Central and South America.

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