Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,230,000 shares, a growth of 34.3% from the January 31st total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 940,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $10.40 to $9.20 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upgraded Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $11.80 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. New Street Research downgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Telefônica Brasil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.97.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIV. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 15,192,635 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $114,704,000 after buying an additional 1,053,218 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,967,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,135,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 283.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 592,234 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $4,471,000 after buying an additional 437,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 151.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 686,792 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $5,185,000 after buying an additional 414,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

NYSE:VIV opened at $8.39 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.95. The company has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.76. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $10.63.

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

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.