Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Trading Up 3% – What’s Next?

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) shot up 3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $8.97 and last traded at $8.98. 123,970 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 834,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VIV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. New Street Research downgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $10.40 to $9.20 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $11.80 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.97.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.01. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.0215 per share. This is a boost from Telefônica Brasil’s previous dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Telefônica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIV. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 15,192,635 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $114,704,000 after buying an additional 1,053,218 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 283.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 592,234 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $4,471,000 after purchasing an additional 437,678 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 151.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 686,792 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $5,185,000 after purchasing an additional 414,193 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 912,148 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 367,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter worth $2,749,000. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefônica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.