Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.36.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VIV. Zacks Research lowered shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. UBS Group cut Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Telefonica Brasil in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.90 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Telefonica Brasil from $15.70 to $15.40 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of Telefonica Brasil stock opened at $13.24 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.34. Telefonica Brasil has a one year low of $10.79 and a one year high of $17.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 10.49%. Research analysts expect that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Brasil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a $0.4562 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Telefonica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.84%.

Institutional Trading of Telefonica Brasil

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,145,564 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $203,346,000 after purchasing an additional 145,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,094,219 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $36,697,000 after buying an additional 237,601 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,949,455 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $34,981,000 after buying an additional 37,899 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 22.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,672,947 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $21,330,000 after buying an additional 307,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,261,713 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $14,964,000 after buying an additional 40,932 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefonica Brasil Company Profile

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.