Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on VIV. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Telefonica Brasil from $15.30 to $15.70 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bradesco Corretora downgraded Telefonica Brasil to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings cut Telefonica Brasil from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. New Street Research upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays set a $16.50 target price on Telefonica Brasil and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Telefonica Brasil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.16.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Performance

NYSE:VIV opened at $14.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Telefonica Brasil has a 1 year low of $9.41 and a 1 year high of $17.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.21. The company has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.63.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.02). Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 10.49%.The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIV. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 431,051 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $3,758,000 after acquiring an additional 100,315 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 337.7% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,233 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,646 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,937 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 18,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, commonly marketed under the Vivo brand, is one of Brazil’s largest telecommunications providers, offering a broad range of consumer and enterprise communications services. The company’s core activities include mobile voice and data services, fixed-line telephony, broadband internet (including fiber-to-the-home), and pay-TV solutions. It also provides ICT and managed services for business customers, such as cloud, data center, connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) and security solutions.

Vivo operates a nationwide network across Brazil and serves both individual consumers and corporate clients.