Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a drop of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 1,490,000 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 868,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Telefônica Brasil Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VIV stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,343,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,801. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 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.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIV. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 87.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,026 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the third quarter valued at about $134,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 30.2% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,094 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 3,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil in the third quarter worth about $160,000. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIV has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. New Street Research downgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.47.

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.