Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) Shares Gap Up to $4.79

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.79, but opened at $5.11. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) shares last traded at $5.01, with a volume of 13,036,546 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ERIC. TheStreet raised shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group lowered Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.90.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Stock Up 2.3 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.35. The stock has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.56 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.04 billion. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a positive return on equity of 11.77% and a negative net margin of 9.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.1293 per share. This is a boost from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s previous dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -23.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ERIC. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 258.1% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,744 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 7,744 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 31.2% in the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 13,457 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201 shares during the period. Finally, 626 Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) during the fourth quarter valued at about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.99% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile connectivity solutions for telcom operators and enterprise customers in various sectors in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, North East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania, and India. It operates in four segments: Networks; Cloud Software and Services; Enterprise; and Other.