Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.16.

VIV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.90 target price on the stock. Bradesco Corretora downgraded Telefonica Brasil to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Telefonica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays set a $15.50 price objective on Telefonica Brasil and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 337.7% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,233 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,773 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 214.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 3,248 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Telefonica Brasil in the fourth quarter worth $110,000. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Down 2.5%

VIV opened at $13.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.41 and its 200 day moving average is $14.54. Telefonica Brasil has a fifty-two week low of $10.82 and a fifty-two week high of $17.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.56.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released 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). Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 10.49%.The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. Research analysts expect that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Brasil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.4562 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Telefonica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.84%.

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.