Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 5.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 459,780 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 26,499 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Telephone and Data Systems were worth $10,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TDS. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Telephone and Data Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 198,700 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,781 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 6,534 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,569,591 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $201,365,000 after purchasing an additional 320,976 shares in the last quarter. 80.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TDS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

TDS opened at $31.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.77 and a beta of 0.77. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.69 and a fifty-two week high of $34.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Telephone and Data Systems had a negative net margin of 10.72% and a positive return on equity of 1.12%. Telephone and Data Systems’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Telephone and Data Systems Profile

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc, a telecommunications company, provides communications services in the United States. It operates through two segments: UScellular and TDS Telecom. The company offers wireless solutions to consumers, and business and government customers, including a suite of connected Internet of things (IoT) solutions, and software applications for monitor and control, business automation/operations, communication, fleet and asset management, smart water solutions, private cellular networks and custom, and end-to-end IoT solutions; wireless priority services and quality priority and preemption options; smartphones and other handsets, tablets, wearables, mobile hotspots, fixed wireless home internet, and IoT devices; and accessories, such as cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards, as well as consumer electronics, including audio, home automation and networking products.