Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $3.89 and last traded at $3.9050, with a volume of 2728090 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. New Street Research cut Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $4.20 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telefonica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Telefonica to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Telefonica in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Telefonica currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $4.02.

Telefonica Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of -9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.23 and its 200-day moving average is $4.90.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 5.23% and a positive return on equity of 8.54%. The firm had revenue of $10.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.1731 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 856.0%. Telefonica’s payout ratio is presently -60.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonica

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Telefonica by 340.2% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 206,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 159,319 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Telefonica by 20.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,243,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,861 shares during the period. Hamilton Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonica during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonica during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Telefonica by 83.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 292,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 133,509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica

Telefónica, SA is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid. Founded in 1924 as Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España, it has grown into one of the world’s largest telecommunications groups. Telefónica provides a broad range of communications services to residential and business customers, including mobile and fixed-line telephony, broadband internet, and pay-TV. The company also develops and sells network infrastructure and related services to support connectivity at scale.

Beyond traditional voice and data services, Telefónica has expanded into digital and IT services aimed at enterprise customers and public-sector clients.