Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Sets New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $5.36 and last traded at $5.34, with a volume of 667254 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.31.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.1703 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from Telefónica’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -63.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TEF. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Telefónica in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.89 and its 200-day moving average is $4.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. On average, analysts predict that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TEF. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 464,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 50.4% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 3,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 391,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Telefónica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.