Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 487,447 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 763,875 shares.The stock last traded at $3.93 and had previously closed at $3.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. HSBC raised Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Trading Up 0.4 %

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 stock has a market cap of $22.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.02 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.46.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11 billion. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. Equities analysts forecast that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.1576 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio is currently -84.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefónica

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEF. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Telefónica by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 64,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Telefónica by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 135,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,768 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Telefónica by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Telefónica by 7.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 45,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Telefónica by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 32,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

About Telefónica

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.