Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Short Interest Up 24.9% in May

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,210,000 shares, an increase of 24.9% from the April 30th total of 3,370,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 969,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIV. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 4th quarter valued at $242,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 4th quarter valued at about $403,000. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 912,148 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 367,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,078,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $15,690,000 after purchasing an additional 78,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised Telefônica Brasil from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $23.60 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Telefônica Brasil from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.30 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Telefônica Brasil from $20.80 to $18.40 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.23.

Telefônica Brasil Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:VIV traded down $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $10.34. 3,394,081 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,620. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.72. Telefônica Brasil has a 52 week low of $7.47 and a 52 week high of $10.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $11.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.17.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.01). Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.41 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a $0.043 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This is an increase from Telefônica Brasil's previous dividend of $0.02. Telefônica Brasil's payout ratio is 91.80%.

About Telefônica 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.