Short Interest in Millicom International Cellular S.A. (NASDAQ:TIGO) Grows By 23.6%

Millicom International Cellular S.A. (NASDAQ:TIGO) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 125,100 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the December 15th total of 101,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 130,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Millicom International Cellular Price Performance

Shares of Millicom International Cellular stock opened at $27.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.92. Millicom International Cellular has a 1-year low of $15.55 and a 1-year high of $28.75.

Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Millicom International Cellular had a return on equity of 4.43% and a net margin of 2.70%. The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Millicom International Cellular will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Millicom International Cellular Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Millicom International Cellular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on TIGO shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Millicom International Cellular from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $37.30 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Millicom International Cellular from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Millicom International Cellular has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.26.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TIGO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Millicom International Cellular by 159.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,223 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Millicom International Cellular in the 3rd quarter valued at $76,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Millicom International Cellular in the 3rd quarter worth $87,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in shares of Millicom International Cellular during the 3rd quarter worth about $168,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Millicom International Cellular during the second quarter valued at about $215,000.

Millicom International Cellular Company Profile

Millicom International Cellular SA provides cable and mobile services in Latin America. It offers mobile services, including mobile data and voice, and short message services; and mobile financial services, such as payments, money transfers, international remittances, savings, real-time loans, and micro-insurance.