Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) Shares Pass Below 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.03 and traded as low as $3.80. Telefonica shares last traded at $3.7910, with a volume of 3,285,173 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TEF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telefonica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Telefonica to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Telefonica to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, New Street Research downgraded Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $4.02.

Telefonica Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $21.50 billion, a PE ratio of -9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4.03 and its 200-day moving average is $4.74.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9 billion. Telefonica had a positive return on equity of 8.54% and a negative net margin of 5.23%. On average, analysts predict that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Telefonica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.1731 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 856.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 17th. Telefonica’s payout ratio is currently -63.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TEF. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Telefonica by 20.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,243,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,093,000 after buying an additional 1,065,861 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Telefonica by 83.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 292,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 133,509 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Telefonica by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 5,177 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Telefonica by 68.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 26,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 10,715 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Telefonica by 26.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 14,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

About Telefonica

Telefónica, SA is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid. Founded in 1924 as Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España, it has grown into one of the world’s largest telecommunications groups. Telefónica provides a broad range of communications services to residential and business customers, including mobile and fixed-line telephony, broadband internet, and pay-TV. The company also develops and sells network infrastructure and related services to support connectivity at scale.

Beyond traditional voice and data services, Telefónica has expanded into digital and IT services aimed at enterprise customers and public-sector clients.