Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial lowered Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Down 0.1%

Telephone and Data Systems stock opened at $33.29 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.18. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.32. Telephone and Data Systems has a twelve month low of $31.51 and a twelve month high of $49.12.

Telephone and Data Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given 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 yield of 0.5%. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telephone and Data Systems

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TDS. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Telephone and Data Systems during the third quarter worth $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,395,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,096,000. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 4,292,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $180,703,000 after purchasing an additional 603,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VR Advisory Services Ltd bought a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $23,493,000. 80.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Telephone and Data Systems Company Profile

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.