Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC upgraded Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Telefónica stock opened at $3.95 on Friday. Telefónica has a fifty-two week low of $3.82 and a fifty-two week high of $4.93. The company has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.19 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.1576 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s payout ratio is currently -84.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefónica

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Telefónica by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,898,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,229,000 after buying an additional 146,259 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Telefónica by 0.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,258,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,300,000 after acquiring an additional 4,949 shares during the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Telefónica during the second quarter valued at about $3,645,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Telefónica by 5.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 394,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 19,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 387,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 76,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.