Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Shares Gap Down to $4.35

Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.35, but opened at $4.26. Telefónica shares last traded at $4.26, with a volume of 87,766 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TEF has been the subject of several research reports. New Street Research downgraded shares of Telefónica from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.19 and a beta of 0.68.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a positive return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 billion. On average, analysts expect that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.1628 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -143.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefónica

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Telefónica by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,519,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,924,000 after buying an additional 39,000 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Telefónica by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 373,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,459,000 after buying an additional 6,066 shares during the period. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter worth $1,200,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telefónica by 21.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 300,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 52,586 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Telefónica by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 259,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 41,662 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.