Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) Stock Price Down 7.4% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• TDS shares fell 7.4% to $33.34, with trading volume down 84% from the average session. The stock has declined below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: two analysts rate TDS a Buy and three rate it Hold, producing an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $53.33.
• The company reported adjusted quarterly EPS of $2.24, well above the $0.09 consensus estimate, while revenue of $309.28 million missed expectations. TDS also maintains a $0.04 quarterly dividend, equal to a 0.5% yield.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 7.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $33.63 and last traded at $33.34. 164,681 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,006,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TDS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Telephone and Data Systems from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Telephone and Data Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Telephone and Data Systems has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Down 9.6%

The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.41 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.48.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $2.15. The business had revenue of $309.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.78 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.05) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Telephone and Data Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telephone and Data Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TDS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,096,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 174.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,727 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 15,424 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,770 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,692 shares in the last quarter. 80.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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