Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company.

TEF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Telefónica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Telefónica from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Telefónica in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefónica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Telefónica in the 1st quarter valued at about $122,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Telefónica by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Telefónica by 24.5% in the 1st 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 lifted its holdings in Telefónica by 83.7% in the 1st 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. Finally, Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in Telefónica during the first quarter valued at about $147,000. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of TEF traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.26. 612,783 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 691,626. Telefónica has a 1-year low of $3.89 and a 1-year high of $5.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.80 billion, a PE ratio of -20.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business's 50 day moving average price is $5.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.55.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.06 billion. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. Equities research analysts predict that Telefónica will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefónica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.1703 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from Telefónica's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Telefónica's dividend payout ratio is presently -63.16%.

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.