Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating on the Wireless communications provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VIV. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Telefonica Brasil from $11.40 to $12.60 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Telefonica Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Telefonica Brasil from $8.80 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (up from $12.50) on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.70.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE VIV opened at $12.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.81. Telefonica Brasil has a one year low of $7.47 and a one year high of $12.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.01). Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.48 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIV. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 2.8% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 15,613,608 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $136,151,000 after acquiring an additional 420,973 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,754,523 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $65,602,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,349 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 3,480,597 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $39,679,000 after purchasing an additional 119,002 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,844,839 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $24,807,000 after purchasing an additional 114,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 36.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,445,527 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $12,605,000 after buying an additional 385,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica 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.