Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Position in Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) by 21.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Telefonica were worth $105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 9.1% in the first quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 101,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,440 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefonica by 6.5% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 112,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 6,825 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefonica 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 purchasing an additional 3,361 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefonica by 65.0% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 454,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 179,119 shares during the period. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Telefonica in the first quarter valued at about $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefonica Price Performance

TEF opened at $5.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Telefonica SA has a 52-week low of $3.89 and a 52-week high of $5.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.86. The company has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.51.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.08. The business had revenue of $10.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.03 billion. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 5.88% and a positive return on equity of 8.57%. On average, analysts expect that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefonica Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.1703 per share. This is a positive change from Telefonica’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a yield of 450.0%. Telefonica’s payout ratio is currently -52.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TEF. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Telefonica in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. DZ Bank cut shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Telefonica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Telefonica currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Telefonica Company 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.