Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.73.

Several research analysts recently commented on VIV shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “c-” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

VIV opened at $9.27 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.96. Telefônica Brasil has a 1 year low of $7.87 and a 1 year high of $11.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.75.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.1823 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Telefônica Brasil’s previous — dividend of $0.03. Telefônica Brasil’s payout ratio is 41.94%.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIV. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 90.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,036,878 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $45,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859,674 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter worth $19,372,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 622.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,749,843 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $19,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,339 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 75.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,480,847 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $26,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,024 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 230.1% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,724,400 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $15,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefônica Brasil Company Profile

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.