Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) Short Interest Update

Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,450,000 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the November 30th total of 5,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Vodafone Group Public Price Performance

Vodafone Group Public stock opened at $8.42 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.29. Vodafone Group Public has a 52 week low of $8.02 and a 52 week high of $10.39. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Vodafone Group Public Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.2423 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Vodafone Group Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.86%.

Institutional Trading of Vodafone Group Public

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 177.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,356,455 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,632,000 after buying an additional 2,145,085 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 61,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $142,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 53,610 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 4,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co purchased a new position in Vodafone Group Public in the 3rd quarter worth $134,000. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vodafone Group Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Vodafone Group Public

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.