Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Buys 108,613 Shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. $VIV

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) by 303.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 144,391 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,613 shares during the quarter. Telefonica Brasil makes up about 1.5% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Telefonica Brasil were worth $1,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIV. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 30.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 431,051 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $3,758,000 after buying an additional 100,315 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Telefonica Brasil during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 337.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,233 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Telefonica Brasil by 543.7% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,918 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Telefonica Brasil during the second quarter worth $2,388,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefonica Brasil Stock Down 0.9%

VIV stock opened at $12.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.70. Telefonica Brasil S.A. has a 12 month low of $7.96 and a 12 month high of $13.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Telefonica Brasil S.A. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VIV shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.50 target price on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Telefonica Brasil from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.12.

About Telefonica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, commonly marketed under the Vivo brand, is one of Brazil’s largest telecommunications providers, offering a broad range of consumer and enterprise communications services. The company’s core activities include mobile voice and data services, fixed-line telephony, broadband internet (including fiber-to-the-home), and pay-TV solutions. It also provides ICT and managed services for business customers, such as cloud, data center, connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) and security solutions.

Vivo operates a nationwide network across Brazil and serves both individual consumers and corporate clients.