Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $16.32, but opened at $14.93. Vodafone Group shares last traded at $14.8650, with a volume of 2,157,016 shares changing hands.

The cell phone carrier reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.61). The company had revenue of $11.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.33 billion.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.2766 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a yield of 357.0%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VOD shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 37,426 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,406 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,567 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,422 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,316 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,014,000 after purchasing an additional 363,694 shares during the last quarter. Transmarket Holdings LP increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 137.3% during the 1st quarter. Transmarket Holdings LP now owns 235,689 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after purchasing an additional 136,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,724,000. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.02.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

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.