Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 price target on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.98.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of VIV stock opened at $10.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Telefônica Brasil has a one year low of $8.02 and a one year high of $11.43.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIV. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 2,821.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,214 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the second quarter valued at $83,000. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the second quarter valued at about $85,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the first quarter worth about $123,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the 4th quarter worth about $136,000. 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.