Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 564,991 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the previous session’s volume of 757,072 shares.The stock last traded at $4.0550 and had previously closed at $3.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Telefonica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. New Street Research lowered Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $3.83 target price on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Telefonica to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised Telefonica from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $4.02.

Telefonica Stock Up 0.6%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.94, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.27.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.51 billion during 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Telefonica Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.1731 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 856.0%. Telefonica’s payout ratio is -60.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefonica

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Telefonica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $134,000. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Telefonica by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 21,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Telefonica by 367.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,850 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Telefonica by 12.3% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 92,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 10,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Telefonica in the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.