Bailard Inc. Takes $207,000 Position in United States Cellular Co. (NYSE:USM)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in United States Cellular Co. (NYSE:USM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,700 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,166,357 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $89,991,000 after buying an additional 104,911 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 13.1% in the first quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,592,792 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $58,137,000 after buying an additional 184,000 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 3.3% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,480,017 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $54,021,000 after buying an additional 47,267 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 1.5% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 659,515 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $24,072,000 after buying an additional 9,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of United States Cellular by 22.0% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 360,000 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $13,140,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. 18.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United States Cellular Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of USM stock opened at $55.74 on Wednesday. United States Cellular Co. has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $60.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.05. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 83.19 and a beta of 0.53.

United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. United States Cellular had a return on equity of 1.55% and a net margin of 1.88%. The business had revenue of $927.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that United States Cellular Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United States Cellular

In other news, EVP Kevin R. Lowell sold 37,597 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.34, for a total value of $1,855,035.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on USM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded United States Cellular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on United States Cellular from $51.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th.

About United States Cellular

United States Cellular Corporation provides wireless telecommunications services in the United States. The company offers wireless services, including voice, messaging, and data services. It also provides wireless devices, such as handsets, tablets, mobile hotspots, home phones, and routers, as well as wireless essentials, including cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards; and consumer electronics comprising audio, home automation, and networking products.