Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.3767.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. DZ Bank lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday.

Institutional Trading of Vodafone Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VOD. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 156.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Bayban increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 6,696.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 2,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its position in Vodafone Group by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vodafone Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Vodafone Group by 81.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vodafone Group Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:VOD opened at $14.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.28. Vodafone Group has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $16.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.2766 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 357.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.