StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Telefónica (NYSE:TEF)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Telefónica (NYSE:TEF – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on TEF. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on Telefónica from €4.10 ($4.41) to €4.20 ($4.52) and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Telefónica from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Telefónica from €2.70 ($2.90) to €2.50 ($2.69) and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Telefónica from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $4.00.

Telefónica Price Performance

Shares of TEF stock opened at $3.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Telefónica has a 12 month low of $3.10 and a 12 month high of $5.39. The company has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.59.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.05. Telefónica had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 5.07%. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.56 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Telefónica will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefónica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TEF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Telefónica by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,943,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,076 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Telefónica by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,076,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,259 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Telefónica by 1,698.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,556,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,632 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Telefónica by 146.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,114,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,850,000 after buying an additional 1,256,172 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Telefónica by 2,213.1% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,120,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072,528 shares during the period. 6.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefónica Company Profile

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Telefónica SA engages in the provision of communication, information and entertainment solutions. It operates through the following brands: Telefónica, Movistar, O2, and Vivo. The company was founded on April 19, 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.