TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on TEL. HSBC dropped their price target on TE Connectivity from $234.00 to $216.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on TE Connectivity from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of TE Connectivity in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on TE Connectivity from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on TE Connectivity from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.50.

TE Connectivity Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of TEL opened at $218.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $212.49 and its 200 day moving average is $212.48. TE Connectivity has a fifty-two week low of $190.27 and a fifty-two week high of $252.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.73.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by $0.07. TE Connectivity had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 25.55%. The company had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. TE Connectivity’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that TE Connectivity will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. TE Connectivity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TE Connectivity

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEL. State Street Corp raised its position in TE Connectivity by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,639,381 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,750,079,000 after purchasing an additional 730,084 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 48.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,709,235 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,554,259,000 after buying an additional 2,507,569 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 3.5% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,237,914 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $652,796,000 after buying an additional 109,020 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 4.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,958,535 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $618,121,000 after buying an additional 118,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 37.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,256,878 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $471,733,000 after buying an additional 612,180 shares during the last quarter. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TE Connectivity Company Profile

TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) designs and manufactures connectivity and sensor solutions used to transmit data, power and signals. Its products include connectors, terminals, relays, antennas and sensors, as well as related components and systems.

The company serves customers in industries including automotive, industrial equipment, communications, aerospace and defense, medical technology, and energy. Its products are used in applications ranging from vehicles and factory automation to telecommunications infrastructure and aircraft.

TE Connectivity operates internationally and traces its history to Tyco Electronics, which became an independent company following its separation from Tyco International in 2007.