Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a decrease of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 1,490,000 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 868,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 87.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,026 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Telefônica Brasil during the third quarter valued at approximately $134,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 30.2% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,094 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the third quarter worth $160,000. Institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIV has been the topic of a number of research reports. New Street Research cut shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Telefônica Brasil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.47.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of VIV traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,343,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,801. Telefônica Brasil has a 12 month low of $7.47 and a 12 month high of $11.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 7.77%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

About Telefônica Brasil

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.