Decatur Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Telefónica by 192.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 63,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 41,810 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Telefónica by 183.3% during the 2nd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 41,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 26,533 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Telefónica during the second quarter worth $85,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Telefónica by 40.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 120,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 34,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Telefónica by 26.1% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 115,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 23,789 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefónica Stock Performance

TEF opened at $4.90 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Telefónica, S.A. has a 52 week low of $3.71 and a 52 week high of $4.93. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.45. The firm has a market cap of $27.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.56 and a beta of 0.67.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 1.62% and a positive return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $11.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.85 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TEF shares. New Street Research downgraded Telefónica from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Telefónica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Telefónica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Telefónica Profile

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.