Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Moderate Buy": Five analysts rate TDS an average "Moderate Buy" (3 buys, 2 holds) with a 1‑year average price target of $53.33, implying upside from the recent ~$45 share price.
• Quarterly results beat expectations—TDS reported EPS of $0.32 vs $0.09 estimate and revenue of $330.7M (up 12% YoY)—but the company still has a slightly negative net margin and a negative P/E.
• Institutional ownership and payout: About 80% of shares are held by institutions, market cap is roughly $5.1B, and TDS pays a small quarterly dividend of $0.04 (≈0.4% yield).

Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.3333.

TDS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Telephone and Data Systems from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Telephone and Data Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st.

Institutional Trading of Telephone and Data Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 699 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 681 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 121.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 830 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 2,779.5% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,123 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Telephone and Data Systems stock opened at $45.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Telephone and Data Systems has a 1 year low of $31.07 and a 1 year high of $47.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.59 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.98.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a positive return on equity of 2.25% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.10) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Telephone and Data Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently -24.62%.

About Telephone and Data Systems

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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