Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) Short Interest Down 18.2% in July

Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,650,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the June 30th total of 11,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VOD. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vodafone Group Public during the fourth quarter valued at $589,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Vodafone Group Public during the first quarter valued at $46,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Vodafone Group Public by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 532,381 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,632,000 after acquiring an additional 101,553 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Vodafone Group Public during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. New Street Research upgraded Vodafone Group Public to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Vodafone Group Public in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.45.

Vodafone Group Public Stock Performance

VOD stock traded down $0.08 on Monday, hitting $9.39. 1,527,776 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,798,248. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Vodafone Group Public has a 1-year low of $8.02 and a 1-year high of $10.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.15 and a 200-day moving average of $8.84.

Vodafone Group Public Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.469 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th.

About Vodafone Group Public

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company provides telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. It offers mobile connectivity services comprising end-to-end services for mobile voice and data, messaging, device management, BYOx, and telecoms management, as well as professional and consulting services; and fixed line connectivity, such as fixed voice and data, broadband, software-defined networks, managed WAN, LAN, ethernet, and satellite; and financial services, as well as business and merchant services.