GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 53,674 Shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF - Free Report) by 282.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 53,674 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Telefonica were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Telefonica by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Telefonica during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Prospect Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Telefonica in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Carrera Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Telefonica in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Telefonica by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on TEF. DZ Bank cut Telefonica from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Telefonica in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telefonica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Telefonica currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Telefonica Stock Performance

Shares of TEF stock traded up $0.04 on Tuesday, hitting $5.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 566,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,204. Telefonica SA has a fifty-two week low of $3.89 and a fifty-two week high of $5.48. The company has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a PE ratio of -13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50 day moving average is $5.10 and its 200-day moving average is $4.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a positive return on equity of 9.30%. Equities research analysts expect that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.1703 per share. This represents a yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from Telefonica's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Telefonica's dividend payout ratio is presently -65.79%.

About Telefonica

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.