Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VIV. Barclays lifted their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Telefônica Brasil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.97.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VIV traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $9.05. The company had a trading volume of 190,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 805,428. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.81. Telefônica Brasil has a 1-year low of $8.02 and a 1-year high of $11.43.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 2,821.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,214 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,104 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Telefônica Brasil during the second quarter worth $83,000. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. bought a new stake in Telefônica Brasil in the second quarter valued at $85,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 1st quarter worth about $123,000. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $134,000. 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.