Blue Trust Inc. Raises Holdings in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) by 87.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,026 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,812 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Telefônica Brasil were worth $62,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Telefônica Brasil during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the 1st quarter worth $123,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the third quarter worth $134,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in Telefônica Brasil by 22.2% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 18,459 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.97.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VIV opened at $9.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.69 and a 200 day moving average of $9.14. The company has a market cap of $15.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.80. Telefônica Brasil S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.02 and a 12-month high of $11.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 7.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.0379 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Telefônica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.86%.

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.