Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at UBS Group

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on VIV. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.12.

Telefonica Brasil Price Performance

Shares of VIV stock opened at $16.29 on Wednesday. Telefonica Brasil has a fifty-two week low of $8.19 and a fifty-two week high of $16.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.13.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 9.15%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIV. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position 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 worth $3,758,000 after buying an additional 100,315 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 337.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,233 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 5.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 54,966 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefonica Brasil during the second quarter worth $194,000. 5.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefonica Brasil Company Profile

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.