Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,017 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Telefonica were worth $80,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Telefonica by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefonica during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Prospect Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Telefonica in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Telefonica by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 4,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Telefonica in the first quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefonica Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TEF opened at $5.29 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.63. Telefonica SA has a 1 year low of $3.89 and a 1 year high of $5.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Telefonica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.1703 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This is a boost from Telefonica’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. Telefonica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -63.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on TEF shares. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Telefonica to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Telefonica Profile

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.