Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday.

VIV has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.97.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

Shares of VIV stock opened at $9.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Telefônica Brasil has a 12 month low of $8.02 and a 12 month high of $11.43. The firm has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.17.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.14. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.0379 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a yield of 3.2%. Telefônica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIV. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 165.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,856,545 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $20,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,304 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 14.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,206,334 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $18,261,000 after buying an additional 275,569 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 96.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 544,019 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $4,466,000 after buying an additional 267,652 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 82.4% during the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 523,647 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $4,299,000 after acquiring an additional 236,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Telefônica Brasil by 308.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 264,192 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after acquiring an additional 199,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefônica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.