NTELOS Holdings Corp. (NTLS) is seeing upbeat forecasts from analysts on solid fourth-quarter and full-year results. The current consensus estimate for 2009 earnings of $1.56 per share is 1% above last month’s projection and 11% higher than the level of 2 months ago.

Company Description

Headquartered in Waynesboro, VA, NTELOS Holdings Corp. is an integrated communications provider. The company provides products and services to customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland and North Carolina, including wireless phone service, local and long distance telephone services, IPTV-based video services as well as data services for internet access and wide area networking.

Higher Forecasts

The company is seeing upbeat forecasts from analysts on solid fourth-quarter and full-year results. The current consensus estimate for 2009 earnings of $1.56 per share is 1% above last month’s projection and 11% higher than the level of 2 months ago. The most accurate forecast is higher at $1.64.

Estimates for the first quarter of 40 cents per share are up from last month’s 37 cents.

Growth in the Fourth Quarter

The company recently announced fourth-quarter earnings of 15 cents per share, topping the previous year’s 10 cents. Operating revenues for the quarter totaled $140.6 million, up from the year-prior $127.9 million.

NTLS noted that one of the highlights for the quarter was its launching or expansion into 6 markets, which led to 70% of total cell sites being upgraded at year-end.

The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 26 cents per share, which translates into a robust, industry-leading yield of 5.4%. The dividend is payable April 13 to stockholders of record on March 19.

Favorable Industry Comparisons

NTELOS Holdings offers a return on equity (ROE) of 23%, above the industry average of 13%.

The company earnings per share are expected to grow 12% over the next 3 – 5 years, which is in line with the industry average.

NTELOS Holdings has a net profit margin of 9%, compared to the industry average of 7%.

Zacks Investment Research

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