Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Vodafone shares jumped after New Street Research upgraded the stock from neutral to buy, opening well above the prior close at $14.71 versus $13.08.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed overall: several firms recently issued downgrades or hold views, and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average target price of $52.38.
• Vodafone also announced a dividend of $0.2766 per share, payable on July 30 to shareholders of record as of June 5.

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after New Street Research upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $13.08, but opened at $14.71. Vodafone Group shares last traded at $14.7270, with a volume of 3,559,676 shares trading hands.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VOD. Barclays cut shares of Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 31st. Bank of America downgraded Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $13.13 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group raised Vodafone Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $52.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its holdings in Vodafone Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 26,854,952 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $403,361,000 after purchasing an additional 784,305 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,286,509 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $201,935,000 after purchasing an additional 182,574 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 9,637.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,902,486 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $117,602,000 after purchasing an additional 8,811,061 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,331,144 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $85,041,000 after buying an additional 610,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SALT Holding Corp. increased its position in Vodafone Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,821,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $44,324,000 after buying an additional 197,500 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.66.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.2766 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 376.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.

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