Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VIV. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.98.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of VIV stock opened at $10.13 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.22. Telefônica Brasil has a 12 month low of $8.02 and a 12 month high of $11.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VIV. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,206,334 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $18,261,000 after purchasing an additional 275,569 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $20,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,304 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 12.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,828,800 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $15,014,000 after acquiring an additional 197,500 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 725,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Telefônica Brasil by 6.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.