BayBridge Capital Group LLC Grows Position in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

BayBridge Capital Group LLC increased its position in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 103,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,559 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Telefónica were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Telefónica by 274.0% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 316,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 231,919 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Telefónica by 8.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,898,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,229,000 after purchasing an additional 146,259 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Telefónica by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 322,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 142,451 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in Telefónica by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 387,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 76,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Telefónica by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 76,657 shares during the period. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of TEF opened at $4.19 on Friday. Telefónica, S.A. has a 1-year low of $3.82 and a 1-year high of $4.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 10.10% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -84.62%.

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.