Morgan Stanley Upgrades Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) to Overweight

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

Separately, Barclays dropped their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $11.35.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Up 2.5 %

VIV stock opened at $8.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.73. Telefônica Brasil has a 52 week low of $8.02 and a 52 week high of $11.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 9.63%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefônica Brasil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0166 per share. This represents a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 27th. Telefônica Brasil’s payout ratio is 44.45%.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIV. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,856,545 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $20,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,304 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 1,601,608 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $17,517,000 after purchasing an additional 725,072 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the fourth quarter worth about $6,208,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,917,010 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $20,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 700,000 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $7,658,000 after purchasing an additional 220,000 shares during the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Telefônica Brasil Company Profile

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.