Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. TheStreet raised Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group lowered Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from $5.81 to $5.58 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $5.58.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ERIC opened at $5.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.35. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a twelve month low of $4.33 and a twelve month high of $6.36.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a positive return on equity of 11.93% and a negative net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.1293 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This is an increase from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s previous dividend of $0.08. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -24.29%.

Institutional Trading of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 9.4% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 26,354 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 17.5% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,547 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 107,824 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 7.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 44,549 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 3,201 shares in the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.