Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.3767.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VOD shares. Barclays downgraded Vodafone Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. DZ Bank downgraded Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group raised Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vodafone Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VOD. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vodafone Group by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Orographic Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the first quarter worth about $889,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 168.9% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 62,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 38,961 shares during the period. Finally, IFS Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vodafone Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $587,000. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ VOD opened at $13.81 on Thursday. Vodafone Group has a 52 week low of $10.28 and a 52 week high of $16.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2766 per share. This represents a yield of 376.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

About Vodafone Group

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.