Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by DZ Bank

DZ Bank cut shares of Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

VOD has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings cut Vodafone Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VOD opened at $15.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.14. Vodafone Group has a 12-month low of $9.21 and a 12-month high of $16.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.05.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2766 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 357.0%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Vodafone Group by 6.9% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 37,426 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 2,406 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 17.4% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,567 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 5,422 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Vodafone Group by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,316 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,014,000 after acquiring an additional 363,694 shares in the last quarter. Transmarket Holdings LP boosted its position in Vodafone Group by 137.3% during the 1st quarter. Transmarket Holdings LP now owns 235,689 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after acquiring an additional 136,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,724,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.