Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) Short Interest Up 6.8% in March

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,930,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the February 29th total of 29,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 15,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ERIC. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Barclays lowered shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.90.

Institutional Trading of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 4,351,420 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,930,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 4,904.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 835,784 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 819,083 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,148,737 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $13,537,000 after acquiring an additional 540,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 412.9% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 361,420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 290,949 shares during the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of ERIC stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $5.35. The company had a trading volume of 15,394,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,470,348. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a PE ratio of -7.33 and a beta of 0.76. The company's fifty day moving average is $5.50 and its 200 day moving average is $5.34. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a fifty-two week low of $4.33 and a fifty-two week high of $6.36.

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

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.1293 dividend. This is an increase from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)'s previous dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)'s payout ratio is currently -21.92%.

About Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

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.