Morgan Stanley Upgrades Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) to “Overweight”

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Separately, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.35.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

NYSE:VIV opened at $9.12 on Thursday. Telefônica Brasil has a one year low of $8.02 and a one year high of $11.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $8.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.72.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 7.39%. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 119,406 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 11,447 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 129,172 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 47,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 30,351 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 13,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefônica Brasil Company Profile

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.