Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group to Strong Sell Rating

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was upgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VIV. Barclays set a $16.50 price objective on shares of Telefonica Brasil and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Telefonica Brasil from $15.30 to $15.70 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group cut shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Bradesco Corretora cut shares of Telefonica Brasil to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $14.42.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of VIV opened at $14.09 on Monday. Telefonica Brasil has a 1 year low of $9.41 and a 1 year high of $17.25. The company has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.75 and a 200-day moving average of $14.23.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 9.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,066,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,185,000. Carrera Capital Advisors grew its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 2,420.5% during the 3rd quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 344,055 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $4,387,000 after acquiring an additional 330,405 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,173,000. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $420,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, commonly marketed under the Vivo brand, is one of Brazil’s largest telecommunications providers, offering a broad range of consumer and enterprise communications services. The company’s core activities include mobile voice and data services, fixed-line telephony, broadband internet (including fiber-to-the-home), and pay-TV solutions. It also provides ICT and managed services for business customers, such as cloud, data center, connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) and security solutions.

Vivo operates a nationwide network across Brazil and serves both individual consumers and corporate clients.