Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company.

TEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC raised shares of Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Trading of Telefónica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TEF. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 21.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 115,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 20,393 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Telefónica by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 94,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,969 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Telefónica by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 34,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 6,886 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 0.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,258,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefónica Price Performance

Shares of TEF opened at $3.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of -15.31 and a beta of 0.68. Telefónica has a 52-week low of $3.82 and a 52-week high of $4.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.1576 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio is currently -84.62%.

Telefónica Company 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.