Analysts Set Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) Target Price at $4.02

Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) has earned an average recommendation of “Strong Sell” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.0150.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TEF shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Telefonica in a research report on Monday, December 29th. New Street Research downgraded shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $3.83 target price on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telefonica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut Telefonica to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st.

Telefonica Stock Performance

Shares of Telefonica stock opened at $3.81 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.33. Telefonica has a fifty-two week low of $3.80 and a fifty-two week high of $5.72. The firm has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonica

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Telefonica by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,243,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,861 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Telefonica by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 292,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 133,509 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Telefonica by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 5,177 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Telefonica by 23.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 11,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 170.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 35,647 shares during the period. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Telefonica

Telefónica, SA is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid. Founded in 1924 as Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España, it has grown into one of the world’s largest telecommunications groups. Telefónica provides a broad range of communications services to residential and business customers, including mobile and fixed-line telephony, broadband internet, and pay-TV. The company also develops and sells network infrastructure and related services to support connectivity at scale.

Beyond traditional voice and data services, Telefónica has expanded into digital and IT services aimed at enterprise customers and public-sector clients.