QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 51,064 Shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF - Free Report) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,879 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 51,064 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Telefonica were worth $959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,622,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,563,000 after acquiring an additional 851,581 shares in the last quarter. Drum Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in Telefonica in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,001,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Telefonica by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 963,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,874,000 after purchasing an additional 258,489 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Telefonica during the 4th quarter worth about $1,022,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 383.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 259,229 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,042,000 after buying an additional 205,558 shares during the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefonica Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TEF traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.27. The stock had a trading volume of 566,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,204. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Telefonica SA has a 52 week low of $3.89 and a 52 week high of $5.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.58.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.1703 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This is a boost from Telefonica's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. This represents a dividend yield of 4.5%. Telefonica's payout ratio is currently -65.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on TEF. DZ Bank downgraded 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 note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telefonica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Telefonica currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Telefonica 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.