United States Cellular Co. (NYSE:USM) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of United States Cellular Co. (NYSE:USM) by 55.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,122 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 114,339 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.11% of United States Cellular worth $4,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in shares of United States Cellular by 3.3% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,480,017 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $54,021,000 after acquiring an additional 47,267 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $24,072,000 after purchasing an additional 9,815 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in United States Cellular during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in United States Cellular by 13.1% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 184,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of United States Cellular in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of United States Cellular from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of United States Cellular from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded United States Cellular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

United States Cellular Stock Performance

Shares of USM opened at $61.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.39. United States Cellular Co. has a 12-month low of $32.01 and a 12-month high of $68.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of -170.94 and a beta of 0.47.

United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $922.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $940.40 million. United States Cellular had a negative net margin of 0.79% and a positive return on equity of 1.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that United States Cellular Co. will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

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.