Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) Issues Earnings Results

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 5.88% and a positive return on equity of 8.57%.

Telefonica Price Performance

TEF traded down $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $4.25. 1,152,127 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,771. The stock has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.49. Telefonica has a twelve month low of $3.89 and a twelve month high of $5.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,243,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,861 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 2,896.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 292,193 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 133,509 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 76.7% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 76,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Telefonica by 170.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 35,647 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on TEF shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Telefonica to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $4.20 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $4.20.

About Telefonica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.