Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. New Street Research lowered Telefónica from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Telefónica from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Telefónica has a consensus rating of Hold.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of TEF stock opened at $4.51 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.19 and a beta of 0.68. Telefónica has a 12 month low of $3.71 and a 12 month high of $4.80.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 billion. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 7.84% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. Equities research analysts forecast that Telefónica will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a $0.1628 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -143.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefónica

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV bought a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,200,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 197,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 99,488 shares in the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the first quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 131.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 99,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 56,683 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Telefónica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.