Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Stock Rated “Reduce” by Wall Street Analysts

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $9.60.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Danske downgraded Ericsson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Ericsson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered Ericsson from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ericsson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th.

Ericsson Price Performance

Shares of ERIC stock opened at $11.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. Ericsson has a one year low of $9.03 and a one year high of $13.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.94.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. Ericsson had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ericsson will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ericsson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a $0.1579 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 29th. Ericsson’s payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

Institutional Trading of Ericsson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ericsson by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,891 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in Ericsson during the 1st quarter worth $493,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Ericsson by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 160,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 12,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Ericsson in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,812,000. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ericsson Company Profile

Ericsson is a Swedish technology company that provides telecommunications equipment, software, and services to communications service providers and enterprise customers worldwide. Headquartered in Stockholm, the company develops infrastructure used to build and operate mobile and fixed networks, including solutions supporting 4G, 5G, and other advanced communications technologies.

Its main offerings include radio access network equipment, core network platforms, transport systems, network management software, cloud-based communications solutions, and related professional services.