Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.04

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.04 per share by the Wireless communications provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th.

Telephone and Data Systems has decreased its dividend by an average of 23.8% annually over the last three years. Telephone and Data Systems has a dividend payout ratio of -114.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Telephone and Data Systems to earn ($0.20) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -80.0%.

Telephone and Data Systems Stock Down 4.1 %

TDS opened at $38.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Telephone and Data Systems has a 1-year low of $13.92 and a 1-year high of $41.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of -7.04 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.73.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The Wireless communications provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Telephone and Data Systems had a negative net margin of 10.72% and a positive return on equity of 1.12%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Telephone and Data Systems Company 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.