Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Reduce" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.90.

Several brokerages have issued reports on ERIC. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Barclays lowered shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 146,286,324 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $921,604,000 after buying an additional 4,351,420 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,148,737 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $13,537,000 after buying an additional 540,022 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,309,599 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $8,250,000 after buying an additional 89,443 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,930,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 4,904.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 835,784 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,265,000 after buying an additional 819,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.99% of the company's stock.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Stock Down 0.2 %

ERIC traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $5.50. The company had a trading volume of 10,304,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,487,697. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a one year low of $4.33 and a one year high of $6.36. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $5.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.34. The company has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a PE ratio of -7.53 and a beta of 0.76.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a negative net margin of 9.82% and a positive return on equity of 11.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.1293 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This is a positive change from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)'s previous dividend of $0.08. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)'s payout ratio is currently -21.92%.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Company Profile

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile connectivity solutions for telcom operators and enterprise customers in various sectors in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, North East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania, and India. It operates in four segments: Networks; Cloud Software and Services; Enterprise; and Other.