Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.98.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VIV shares. Barclays lowered Telefonica Brasil from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. New Street Research upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Telefonica Brasil from $12.50 to $15.30 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Performance

NYSE VIV opened at $16.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.00. Telefonica Brasil has a fifty-two week low of $8.59 and a fifty-two week high of $17.25.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter. Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 10.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefonica Brasil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a $0.4562 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Telefonica Brasil’s payout ratio is currently 34.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,000,115 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $216,751,000 after buying an additional 1,735,958 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 138.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,856,618 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $36,422,000 after buying an additional 1,660,475 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,192,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil in the 4th quarter valued at $4,211,000. Finally, Carrera Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 2,420.5% in the 3rd quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 344,055 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $4,387,000 after buying an additional 330,405 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica Brasil

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.