Vest Financial LLC Buys Shares of 12,931 Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Telefónica during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new position in Telefónica in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Telefónica in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefónica Price Performance

Shares of TEF opened at $4.19 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.44. The stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of -16.10 and a beta of 0.68. Telefónica, S.A. has a 1-year low of $3.82 and a 1-year high of $4.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $11.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.1576 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s payout ratio is presently -84.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Profile

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.