Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,526,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 39,170 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Telephone and Data Systems were worth $62,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TDS. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 42,165 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 8,640 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 67,125 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 11,769 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 58,721 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 358.3% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 27,043 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 21,142 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of TDS stock opened at $40.53 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.50. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $49.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.43 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.48 and a beta of 0.33.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.98. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 6.15%.The company had revenue of $309.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems’s payout ratio is currently 30.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Telephone and Data Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Telephone and Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.