TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised TE Connectivity from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on TE Connectivity from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on TE Connectivity from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC raised TE Connectivity from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $166.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on TE Connectivity from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

TE Connectivity Price Performance

Shares of TE Connectivity stock opened at $156.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.27. TE Connectivity has a 12 month low of $137.61 and a 12 month high of $159.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.06. TE Connectivity had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that TE Connectivity will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the electronics maker to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 3,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $587,744.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,925,752.88. This trade represents a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,378,995 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,629,225,000 after buying an additional 4,029,596 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,852,607 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,940,615,000 after buying an additional 268,837 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of TE Connectivity during the fourth quarter worth $909,598,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in TE Connectivity by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,015,210 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $857,499,000 after purchasing an additional 33,340 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in TE Connectivity by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,603,251 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $801,101,000 after purchasing an additional 592,072 shares during the period. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About TE Connectivity

TE Connectivity Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells connectivity and sensor solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the AsiaPacific, and the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Transportation Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Communications Solutions.