Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.3767.

Several research firms have commented on VOD. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $13.13 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:VOD opened at $15.10 on Friday. Vodafone Group has a one year low of $9.80 and a one year high of $16.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.37.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.2766 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 366.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,351 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after buying an additional 5,592 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,278 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Vodafone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $140,000. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.