Bank of Montreal Can Raises Position in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,587 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,078 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Telefônica Brasil were worth $380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 0.5% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 330,000 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 56,552 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,264 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,756 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 5.0% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 50,378 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 2,382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on VIV shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank raised 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 note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.97.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VIV opened at $9.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.80. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.21. Telefônica Brasil S.A. has a 1 year low of $8.02 and a 1 year high of $11.43.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.14. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.53% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.0379 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a yield of 3.2%. Telefônica Brasil’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

About Telefônica Brasil

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.