Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 221,134 Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 11.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,650,970 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 221,134 shares during the quarter. Telephone and Data Systems makes up about 0.6% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Telephone and Data Systems were worth $64,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 17.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 110,993 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 16,659 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in Telephone and Data Systems by 244.2% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 45,152 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 32,035 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 13.9% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 19,334 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 2,356 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 48.4% in the third quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 2,402 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 47.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 34,025 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the period. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

NYSE:TDS opened at $44.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.73. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.07 and a 52 week high of $47.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of -69.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

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

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.