Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ERIC. Morgan Stanley cut Ericsson from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ericsson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Danske upgraded shares of Ericsson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th.

Ericsson Stock Up 2.3%

Ericsson stock opened at $9.43 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Ericsson has a 1-year low of $8.12 and a 1-year high of $13.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.03. The company has a market cap of $31.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.96.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.43 billion for the quarter. Ericsson had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 20.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Ericsson will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ericsson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th were paid a $0.1579 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 29th. Ericsson’s payout ratio is 26.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Ericsson during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,812,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Ericsson by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,645,672 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $15,881,000 after purchasing an additional 620,144 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ericsson in the 4th quarter worth about $429,000. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ericsson in the 1st quarter worth about $493,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Ericsson by 8.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 12,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.99% of the company’s stock.

Ericsson Company Profile

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish telecommunications and technology company that provides communications infrastructure, software, and related services to telecommunications operators and enterprises worldwide. The company was founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Ericsson’s offerings include mobile network equipment and services for 4G and 5G networks, radio access systems, core networks, transport solutions, and network management software.