StockNews.com Lowers Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Telefônica Brasil from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Telefônica Brasil has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $11.17.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

NYSE VIV opened at $10.08 on Tuesday. Telefônica Brasil has a 52 week low of $8.02 and a 52 week high of $11.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.79.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 7.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefônica Brasil Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.0379 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.2%. Telefônica Brasil’s payout ratio is 49.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIV. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 14.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,206,334 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $18,261,000 after buying an additional 275,569 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,856,545 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $20,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,304 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Telefônica Brasil by 12.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,828,800 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $15,014,000 after purchasing an additional 197,500 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 82.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 1,601,608 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $17,517,000 after purchasing an additional 725,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,562 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $12,311,000 after purchasing an additional 72,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefônica Brasil Company Profile

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.