Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.12.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VIV shares. Zacks Research upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.50 target price on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 337.7% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,233 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,773 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Telefonica Brasil during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 214.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 3,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Telefonica Brasil by 45.7% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,163 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. 5.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefonica Brasil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VIV opened at $16.30 on Tuesday. Telefonica Brasil has a twelve month low of $8.16 and a twelve month high of $16.95. The firm has a market cap of $26.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.89 and a 200 day moving average of $12.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its earnings results 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. Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 10.42%.The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.