Brandes Investment Partners LP Trims Stake in Telefonica Brasil S.A. $VIV

Brandes Investment Partners LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,277,427 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 363,290 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Telefonica Brasil were worth $27,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Telefonica Brasil by 337.7% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,233 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Telefonica Brasil by 214.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 3,248 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the first quarter worth about $52,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in Telefonica Brasil during the third quarter worth about $130,000. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on VIV shares. Weiss Ratings cut Telefonica Brasil from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Bradesco Corretora cut Telefonica Brasil to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Telefonica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research raised Telefonica Brasil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays set a $16.50 price target on Telefonica Brasil and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $14.36.

Telefonica Brasil Trading Up 0.1%

VIV opened at $12.82 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Telefonica Brasil S.A. has a one year low of $10.37 and a one year high of $17.25.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). Telefonica Brasil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 10.49%.The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. Analysts predict that Telefonica Brasil S.A. will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Telefonica Brasil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.4562 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Telefonica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Telefonica Brasil Company Profile

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.