Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.47.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VIV. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, New Street Research lowered Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIV. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 50.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,518 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 21,235 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 3.1% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 65,781 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 5.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,321 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 10.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,462 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 3,820 shares during the period. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

Telefônica Brasil stock opened at $7.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Telefônica Brasil has a 52-week low of $7.47 and a 52-week high of $11.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.98.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 7.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.