StockNews.com Downgrades Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on TEF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Telefónica from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. New Street Research downgraded shares of Telefónica from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold.

Telefónica Trading Up 0.3 %

TEF opened at $4.54 on Tuesday. Telefónica has a twelve month low of $3.71 and a twelve month high of $4.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.43 and a 200-day moving average of $4.29. The stock has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a PE ratio of -28.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 7.84% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Telefónica will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a $0.1628 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio is currently -143.75%.

Institutional Trading of Telefónica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV bought a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter worth about $1,200,000. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Telefónica by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 23,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 7,895 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC bought a new position in shares of Telefónica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Telefónica by 3.3% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Telefónica by 11.4% during the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

About Telefónica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.