Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) Shares Down 2.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Millicom International Cellular's shares fell by 2.7% after UBS Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating, setting a new price target of $49.00.
• The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54, with revenues of $1.37 billion compared to expectations of $1.40 billion.
• Millicom announced a special dividend of $1.25 per share, resulting in a yield of 620.0%, with the payout date set for October 15th.

Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ:TIGO - Get Free Report) was down 2.7% during trading on Thursday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as low as $46.90 and last traded at $46.68. Approximately 44,211 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 942,642 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.97.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Millicom International Cellular from $37.00 to $46.10 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Zacks Research raised Millicom International Cellular from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Millicom International Cellular from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $39.50 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Millicom International Cellular from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.02.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Millicom International Cellular

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in shares of Millicom International Cellular during the 1st quarter worth $263,401,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Millicom International Cellular by 5,033.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,578,894 shares of the technology company's stock worth $168,874,000 after purchasing an additional 5,470,214 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Millicom International Cellular during the 1st quarter valued at $85,909,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Millicom International Cellular in the 1st quarter worth $73,286,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Millicom International Cellular in the first quarter valued at about $50,664,000.

Millicom International Cellular Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $43.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 1.08.

Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. Millicom International Cellular had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 16.97%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Millicom International Cellular SA will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Millicom International Cellular

Millicom International Cellular SA provides cable and mobile services in Latin America. It offers mobile services, including mobile data and voice, and short message services; and mobile financial services, such as payments, money transfers, international remittances, savings, real-time loans, and micro-insurance.