Sowell Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD)

Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 108,810 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,020,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $110,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vodafone Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $60,000. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Vodafone Group by 12.5% in the first quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vodafone Group by 14.5% in the first quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,613 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 11,128 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Vodafone Group by 21.3% in the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 26,368 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 4,622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Vodafone Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vodafone Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Vodafone Group Price Performance

Shares of Vodafone Group stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.20. The stock had a trading volume of 40,542,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,943,048. Vodafone Group PLC has a fifty-two week low of $8.00 and a fifty-two week high of $10.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.08.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.2355 dividend. This represents a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Vodafone Group's payout ratio is 41.23%.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company provides telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. It offers mobile connectivity services comprising end-to-end services for mobile voice and data, messaging, device management, BYOx, and telecoms management, as well as professional and consulting services; and fixed line connectivity, such as fixed voice and data, broadband, software-defined networks, managed WAN, LAN, ethernet, and satellite; and financial services, as well as business and merchant services.