Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Strong Sell” from Brokerages

Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) has received an average recommendation of “Strong Sell” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $4.0150.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Telefonica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Telefonica from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $3.83 price objective on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup lowered shares of Telefonica to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, New Street Research cut shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th.

Telefonica Stock Performance

Shares of TEF opened at $3.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. Telefonica has a 52-week low of $3.80 and a 52-week high of $5.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Telefonica by 1,561.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,569,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,355,000 after buying an additional 1,474,721 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Telefonica by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,243,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,861 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 716.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 956,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,872,000 after acquiring an additional 838,907 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Telefonica by 394.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 921,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,683,000 after acquiring an additional 735,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Mission Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Telefonica by 153.0% during the 4th quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 1,074,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,350,000 after acquiring an additional 649,496 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica

Telefónica, SA is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid. Founded in 1924 as Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España, it has grown into one of the world’s largest telecommunications groups. Telefónica provides a broad range of communications services to residential and business customers, including mobile and fixed-line telephony, broadband internet, and pay-TV. The company also develops and sells network infrastructure and related services to support connectivity at scale.

Beyond traditional voice and data services, Telefónica has expanded into digital and IT services aimed at enterprise customers and public-sector clients.