Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 191,842 Shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. has increased its stake in Telefonica Brasil S.A. by 45.6%, purchasing an additional 191,842 shares to hold a total of 612,915 shares valued at $5,345,000.
• Analysts have upgraded Telefonica Brasil, with ratings shifting from "hold" to "buy," and price targets raised to a range of $10.30 to $12.50, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• Telefonica Brasil reported a quarterly earnings miss with $0.15 EPS, falling short of the $0.16 consensus estimate, and its revenue came in at $2.62 billion for the quarter.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV - Free Report) by 45.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 612,915 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after purchasing an additional 191,842 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Telefonica Brasil were worth $5,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIV. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 449,213 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $3,917,000 after acquiring an additional 63,241 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Telefonica Brasil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $403,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,078,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $15,690,000 after purchasing an additional 78,200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,701 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 4,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,812 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 29,308 shares in the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VIV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Telefonica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.30 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telefonica Brasil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Telefonica Brasil from $8.80 to $12.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 price target (up from $12.50) on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.93.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:VIV traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,306,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,029. Telefonica Brasil S.A. has a 12 month low of $7.47 and a 12 month high of $12.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $11.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.54. The company has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.71.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.01). Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.48 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Telefonica Brasil S.A. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Telefonica 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.