Wall Street Zen Downgrades Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) to Sell

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Telefonica to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Telefonica in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Telefonica in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $4.20 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $4.20.

Telefonica Stock Up 0.6%

TEF opened at $4.28 on Friday. Telefonica has a twelve month low of $3.89 and a twelve month high of $5.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.16. The company has a market cap of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of -8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.48.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 5.88% and a positive return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $10.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Telefonica will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonica

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 454,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 179,119 shares during the period. Carrera Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Telefonica during the second quarter worth $5,440,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 340.2% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 206,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 159,319 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Telefonica by 46.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 182,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after acquiring an additional 58,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Telefonica during the second quarter worth $438,000. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.