Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 192,559 Shares of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 421,073 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 192,559 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Telefônica Brasil were worth $3,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VIV. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,169 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,933 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Telefônica Brasil by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,823 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in Telefônica Brasil during the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. 5.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Telefônica Brasil from $10.40 to $9.20 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.80 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.97.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

VIV opened at $8.58 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.60. Telefônica Brasil S.A. has a 52 week low of $7.47 and a 52 week high of $10.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.01. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a $0.0215 dividend. This is an increase from Telefônica Brasil’s previous dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Telefônica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.18%.

About Telefônica Brasil

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.