Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Stock Price

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $15.30 to $15.70 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the Wireless communications provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.82% from the company’s previous close.

VIV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays set a $16.50 price target on shares of Telefonica Brasil and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.16.

Telefonica Brasil Trading Up 0.7%

Telefonica Brasil stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $14.84. 312,226 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 978,589. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.00. Telefonica Brasil has a fifty-two week low of $9.41 and a fifty-two week high of $17.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.94 and its 200-day moving average is $14.17.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.02). Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. On average, analysts predict that Telefonica Brasil will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonica Brasil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIV. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 138.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,856,618 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $36,422,000 after buying an additional 1,660,475 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the second quarter worth about $4,192,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the fourth quarter worth about $4,211,000. Carrera Capital Advisors raised its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 2,420.5% during the third quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 344,055 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $4,387,000 after acquiring an additional 330,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 477.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 392,232 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $5,001,000 after acquiring an additional 324,319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, commonly marketed under the Vivo brand, is one of Brazil’s largest telecommunications providers, offering a broad range of consumer and enterprise communications services. The company’s core activities include mobile voice and data services, fixed-line telephony, broadband internet (including fiber-to-the-home), and pay-TV solutions. It also provides ICT and managed services for business customers, such as cloud, data center, connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) and security solutions.

Vivo operates a nationwide network across Brazil and serves both individual consumers and corporate clients.