New Street Research Upgrades Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) to “Buy”

Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at New Street Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. DZ Bank cut shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $13.13 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $52.38.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

Shares of Vodafone Group stock traded up $1.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.75. 2,789,995 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,188,447. Vodafone Group has a 12-month low of $10.66 and a 12-month high of $16.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.66.

Institutional Trading of Vodafone Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VOD. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,351 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Vodafone Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after buying an additional 5,592 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Vodafone Group by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 13.4% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,278 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the second quarter worth $140,000. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.