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

Shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.42.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VIV shares. Bank of America started coverage on Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. UBS Group downgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Telefonica Brasil Price Performance

Telefonica Brasil stock opened at $15.16 on Friday. Telefonica Brasil has a 12 month low of $8.19 and a 12 month high of $16.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.29. The company has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.68.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 10.42%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,145,564 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $203,346,000 after purchasing an additional 145,449 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 54.8% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,754,523 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $65,602,000 after buying an additional 2,036,349 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 3.5% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 3,480,597 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $39,679,000 after buying an additional 119,002 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,094,219 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $36,697,000 after buying an additional 237,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,949,455 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $34,981,000 after acquiring an additional 37,899 shares during the period. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.