Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on TEF. DZ Bank cut shares of Telefónica from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Telefónica in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Two research analysts have 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of Telefónica stock opened at $5.13 on Thursday. Telefónica has a fifty-two week low of $3.89 and a fifty-two week high of $5.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.71 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50 day moving average price is $4.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.45.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $9.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Telefónica will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Telefónica

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Telefónica by 24.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 5,177 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Telefónica by 83.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 292,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 133,509 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica during the first quarter valued at $147,000. Hamilton Capital LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica during the first quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Telefónica by 20.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,243,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.14% of the company's stock.

Telefónica Company 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.

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