Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VIV. Scotiabank raised their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Telefônica Brasil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.07.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

VIV stock opened at $8.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Telefônica Brasil has a 12 month low of $8.02 and a 12 month high of $11.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.41 and a 200-day moving average of $9.09.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 6.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,562 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $12,311,000 after purchasing an additional 72,388 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil during the first quarter valued at $123,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil during the first quarter valued at $236,000. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil during the second quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in Telefônica Brasil by 22.2% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 18,459 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358 shares during the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Telefônica Brasil

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.