Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on VIV. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.30 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.60 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $20.80 to $18.40 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.23.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:VIV opened at $9.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.73. Telefônica Brasil has a 52 week low of $7.47 and a 52 week high of $10.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.12.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 7.77%. As a group, research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a $0.043 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 is presently 42.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,445,527 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $12,605,000 after purchasing an additional 385,848 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 120.9% during the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 10,912 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 5,972 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 1st quarter valued at $156,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 65.2% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 146,356 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 57,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 612,915 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $5,345,000 after purchasing an additional 191,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

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.