Bleakley Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,639 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $149,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Credit Suisse AG increased its position in Telefônica Brasil by 543.6% in the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 7,485 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 6,322 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil in the second quarter worth about $68,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Telefônica Brasil by 578.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,863 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 8,410 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Telefônica Brasil by 191.7% in the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,028 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 6,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil in the first quarter worth about $84,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “c-” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil in a research report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Three equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Telefônica Brasil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.73.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

NYSE VIV opened at $9.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Telefônica Brasil S.A. has a 1-year low of $7.87 and a 1-year high of $11.43.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, research analysts predict that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.1823 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This is a boost from Telefônica Brasil’s previous — dividend of $0.03. Telefônica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.84%.

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.