StockNews.com Lowers Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) to Buy

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.97.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

Shares of VIV traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $9.53. The company had a trading volume of 553,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,357. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.80. Telefônica Brasil has a 12-month low of $8.02 and a 12-month high of $11.43.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 7.53%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIV. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,856,545 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $20,311,000 after buying an additional 1,157,304 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 86.0% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 25,061 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 4.7% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 77,857 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 3,521 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 3.1% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,756 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 15.1% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 27,727 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 3,639 shares in the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefônica Brasil Company Profile

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.