Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $13.43 and last traded at $13.4850, with a volume of 17192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VOD shares. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays raised shares of Vodafone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Vodafone Group in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Vodafone Group to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Trading Down 0.3%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.2567 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a yield of 434.0%.

Institutional Trading of Vodafone Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VOD. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Vodafone Group in the second quarter worth $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 3,455.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,352 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Vodafone Group by 38.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 49.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.