Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VOD. Berenberg Bank upgraded Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Bank of America downgraded Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

Shares of Vodafone Group stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $10.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,050,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,296,696. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Vodafone Group has a 12-month low of $8.00 and a 12-month high of $11.03. The company has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.30.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.2355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a yield of 6.6%. Vodafone Group's payout ratio is 41.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 16.8% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 25,696,928 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $240,780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690,617 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 341.2% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 4,146,322 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206,506 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vodafone Group in the fourth quarter valued at $21,969,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 14,598,375 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $123,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 272.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,253,059 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $21,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648,879 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company provides telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. It offers mobile connectivity services comprising end-to-end services for mobile voice and data, messaging, device management, BYOx, and telecoms management, as well as professional and consulting services; and fixed line connectivity, such as fixed voice and data, broadband, software-defined networks, managed WAN, LAN, ethernet, and satellite; and financial services, as well as business and merchant services.