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

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.42%.

Telephone and Data Systems has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 23.8% annually over the last three years. Telephone and Data Systems has a payout ratio of -114.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research 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 Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of TDS stock opened at $38.00 on Friday. Telephone and Data Systems has a fifty-two week low of $13.92 and a fifty-two week high of $41.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.60. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.04 and a beta of 0.80.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The Wireless communications provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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%. Research analysts forecast that Telephone and Data Systems will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TDS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised Telephone and Data Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

About Telephone and Data Systems

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.