Billionaire Mario Gabelli is Betting on These Five Telecom Stocks

In Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS), GAMCO cut its stake by 11% during the third quarter to 3.94 million shares valued at $98.24 million. Telephone & Data Systems turned to a profit in the third quarter, reporting EPS of $0.46, compared with a loss of $1.07 per share posted a year earlier and much higher than the loss of $0.06 per share expected by analysts. The stock trades at around 16.4-times earnings, which is below the Telecom Services industry average of 22.9. Aside from GAMCO, three other funds managed by billionaire investors held shares of Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) at the end of June, including Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies, which owned 1.88 million shares.

GAMCO also disclosed ownership of 13.89 million shares of regional provider of telecom services, Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB). The stake was trimmed by 5% during the third quarter and its value stood at $43.35 million at the end of September. Cincinnati Bell’s shares are over 20% in the green year-to-date and sport a forward P/E of 16.3. Among the funds we track, Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB) is not very popular, as only 11 funds held stakes equal to 11% of the company’s outstanding stock at the end of June.

Rogers Communications Inc. (USA) (NYSE:RCI) ranks as GAMCO’s fifth-favorite telecom holding, the fund owning 809,191 Rogers’ shares worth $27.90 million as of the end of September. Analysts reiterated a neutral outlook on the stock after the release of its most recent financial results, even though the reported figures showed that the company is on a solid turnaround path set by CEO Guy Laurence. The company added 77,000 monthly contract subscribers in the third quarter and reported sales of $3.38 billion and EPS of $0.90, surpassing the estimates on both the top and bottom lines, buoyed in small part by the success of the Canadian cable and telecom company’s baseball franchise, the Toronto Blue Jays. The jump in Rogers Communications’ stock on the back of the results has turned it back into green territory in year-to-date terms and has probably improved the sentiment for it among smart money investors. At the end of June, 14 funds from our database held stakes equal to 0.90% of Rogers Communications Inc. (USA) (NYSE:RCI)’s stock.

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