Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefónica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica in the third quarter worth $45,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica in the third quarter worth $53,000. 1.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefónica Price Performance

Shares of Telefónica stock opened at $4.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.71 and a beta of 0.68. Telefónica has a one year low of $3.82 and a one year high of $4.93.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 10.10% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11 billion. Analysts forecast that Telefónica will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.1576 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s payout ratio is -84.62%.

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.