Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 121,772 Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,375,121 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 121,772 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Telephone and Data Systems worth $466,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the third quarter worth about $144,732,000. Carronade Capital Management LP raised its stake in Telephone and Data Systems by 8.5% in the third quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,680,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $144,423,000 after purchasing an additional 288,000 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,395,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,335,759 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $47,526,000 after purchasing an additional 26,169 shares during the last quarter. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Performance

Telephone and Data Systems stock opened at $45.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.77 and a beta of 0.33. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.07 and a 1-year high of $47.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.26 and a 200-day moving average of $42.23.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.23. Telephone and Data Systems had a positive return on equity of 2.25% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.The company had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.16 EPS for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TDS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.