QRG Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF - Free Report) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,879 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 51,064 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Telefonica were worth $959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in Telefonica by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 147,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 27,638 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Telefonica by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Telefonica by 282.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 53,674 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Telefonica by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Telefonica by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 31,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 13,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Telefonica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Telefonica in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, DZ Bank cut Telefonica from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Telefonica Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TEF traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.17. 951,516 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 692,642. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $5.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.57. The stock has a market cap of $29.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.59, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.46. Telefonica SA has a 12-month low of $3.89 and a 12-month high of $5.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Telefonica had a positive return on equity of 9.30% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is a positive change from Telefonica's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. Telefonica's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.