Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) to Issue $0.17 Dividend

Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) declared a dividend on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of 0.1731 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, January 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 827.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th.

Telefonica has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Telefonica has a payout ratio of 53.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Telefonica to earn $0.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.25 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 80.6%.

Telefonica Trading Up 2.6%

Telefonica stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.19. 508,942 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,419. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.72, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.48. Telefonica has a 12 month low of $3.89 and a 12 month high of $5.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.13.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefonica had a negative net margin of 5.88% and a positive return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $10.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9 billion. Analysts forecast that Telefonica will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on TEF. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Telefonica in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Telefonica in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $4.20 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Telefonica to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Telefonica presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus 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.