GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 53,674 Shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) by 282.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,674 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Telefonica were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TEF. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Telefonica by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,622,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,563,000 after purchasing an additional 851,581 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Telefonica by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,429,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after buying an additional 66,797 shares in the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Telefonica by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 982,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,951,000 after buying an additional 101,030 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 963,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after buying an additional 258,489 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Telefonica by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 636,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefonica Price Performance

NYSE TEF opened at $5.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.09 and its 200-day moving average is $4.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of -13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.46. Telefonica SA has a 12-month low of $3.89 and a 12-month high of $5.48.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a positive return on equity of 9.30%. The business had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual 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 is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from Telefonica’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. Telefonica’s payout ratio is currently -65.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on TEF. DZ Bank lowered shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Telefonica in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

About Telefonica

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.