Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $1.31 Million Stock Position in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF - Free Report) by 53.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 324,690 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,724 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s holdings in Telefónica were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 464,198 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Telefónica by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Telefónica by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Telefónica by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 391,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 636,498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Telefónica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Telefónica in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Telefónica from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold".

Telefónica Price Performance

NYSE TEF traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $5.28. 270,471 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,618. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.89 and a 200-day moving average of $4.50. Telefónica, S.A. has a one year low of $3.89 and a one year high of $5.36. The stock has a market cap of $29.94 billion, a PE ratio of -20.31 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 10.10% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefónica Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.1703 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is a positive change from Telefónica's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Telefónica's dividend payout ratio is presently -63.16%.

Telefónica Profile

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.