Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on VIV. Bank of America started coverage on Telefonica Brasil in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Telefonica Brasil from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.50 price target on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.12.

Telefonica Brasil Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE VIV opened at $15.80 on Monday. Telefonica Brasil has a fifty-two week low of $8.09 and a fifty-two week high of $16.47. The company has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 10.37%.The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 331,853 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after purchasing an additional 22,921 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,989 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,042,457 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $12,364,000 after purchasing an additional 26,356 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $809,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 12,819 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefonica Brasil Company Profile

Telefônica Brasil SA, commonly marketed under the Vivo brand, is one of Brazil’s largest telecommunications providers, offering a broad range of consumer and enterprise communications services. The company’s core activities include mobile voice and data services, fixed-line telephony, broadband internet (including fiber-to-the-home), and pay-TV solutions. It also provides ICT and managed services for business customers, such as cloud, data center, connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) and security solutions.

Vivo operates a nationwide network across Brazil and serves both individual consumers and corporate clients.