Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.80.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cfra Research raised Ericsson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ericsson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ericsson

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Ericsson by 302.7% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 46,112 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 34,660 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ericsson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Ericsson by 234.2% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,078,145 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,916,000 after acquiring an additional 755,587 shares during the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ericsson during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,349,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Ericsson by 434.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 380,372 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 309,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.99% of the company’s stock.

Ericsson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ERIC opened at $9.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ericsson has a 1-year low of $6.64 and a 1-year high of $10.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.39 and its 200-day moving average is $8.50.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. Ericsson had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 10.44%.The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Ericsson’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ericsson will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ericsson Company Profile

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.