Short Interest in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Increases By 34.0%

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, an increase of 34.0% from the February 28th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 915,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VIV shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.40 to $9.20 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. New Street Research cut Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $11.80 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Telefônica Brasil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.97.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,053 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,370 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 137,909 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 195,958 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 1,653 shares during the period. 5.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of Telefônica Brasil stock traded up $0.42 on Tuesday, reaching $9.14. 1,140,373 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 837,954. The company has a market capitalization of $15.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Telefônica Brasil has a one year low of $7.47 and a one year high of $10.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.78 and a 200 day moving average of $8.83.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 7.77%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.0215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This is an increase from Telefônica Brasil’s previous dividend of $0.02. Telefônica Brasil’s payout ratio is 50.82%.

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.