TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, an increase of 46.9% from the March 15th total of 3,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered TE Connectivity from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of TE Connectivity from $165.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on TE Connectivity from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on TE Connectivity from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of TE Connectivity from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TE Connectivity 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 value of $587,744.57. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of TE Connectivity

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in TE Connectivity during the fourth quarter worth about $909,598,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in TE Connectivity by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,015,210 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $857,499,000 after buying an additional 33,340 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,603,251 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $801,101,000 after acquiring an additional 592,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in TE Connectivity by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,064,822 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $581,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.43% of the company's stock.

TE Connectivity Price Performance

TEL traded up $4.71 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,945,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,709,692. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $142.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.25. TE Connectivity has a 12 month low of $116.30 and a 12 month high of $159.98.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.14. TE Connectivity had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The company had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.97 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that TE Connectivity will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from TE Connectivity's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. TE Connectivity's payout ratio is currently 45.37%.

TE Connectivity Company Profile

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.