GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Purchases 29,600 Shares of United States Cellular Corporation $USM

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. lifted its position in shares of United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) by 63.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,950 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,600 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.’s holdings in United States Cellular were worth $5,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in USM. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 480,250 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $30,121,000 after purchasing an additional 204,146 shares in the last quarter. Tiptree Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of United States Cellular during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,704,000. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 124.6% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 114,465 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $7,179,000 after purchasing an additional 63,501 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of United States Cellular during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,842,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 179,909 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $11,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,396 shares in the last quarter. 18.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USM has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $84.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of United States Cellular in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on United States Cellular from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.33.

United States Cellular Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE:USM opened at $77.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -259.59 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.48. United States Cellular Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.20 and a 1 year high of $79.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.56.

United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $916.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $907.73 million. United States Cellular had a positive return on equity of 1.68% and a negative net margin of 0.68%. Sell-side analysts expect that United States Cellular Corporation will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Cellular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $23.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This is an increase from United States Cellular’s previous special dividend of $0.06.

United States Cellular Profile

United States Cellular Corporation provides wireless telecommunications services in the United States. The company offers wireless services, including voice, messaging, and data services. It also provides wireless devices, such as handsets, tablets, mobile hotspots, home phones, and routers, as well as wireless essentials, including cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards; and consumer electronics comprising audio, home automation, and networking products.