Scotia Capital Inc. Invests $176,000 in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 21,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ERIC. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 401.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 13,607,012 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $109,673,000 after acquiring an additional 10,891,451 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 4,808,322 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,246 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the 4th quarter valued at $23,440,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,795,967 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,475,000 after purchasing an additional 638,393 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 196.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,177,361 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 779,639 shares in the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Stock Performance

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) stock opened at $8.07 on Wednesday. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a 12-month low of $4.82 and a 12-month high of $8.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -807,000.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.03.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.04). Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 0.06%. On average, research analysts forecast that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th were paid a dividend of $0.1315 per share. This is a boost from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s previous dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 27th. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s dividend payout ratio is -1,800,000.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ERIC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from $8.90 to $9.80 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

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.