Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.32, but opened at $14.93. Vodafone Group shares last traded at $14.8650, with a volume of 2,157,016 shares.

Key Headlines Impacting Vodafone Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Vodafone Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vodafone reported improved annual results, swinging to a pretax profit as revenue and service revenue rose, with growth driven by stronger performance in Germany and the consolidation of Three UK. Vodafone Swings to Pretax Profit on Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The company also said it expects further earnings growth over the year ahead, which supports the case that its turnaround strategy is gaining traction. Vodafone predicts further earnings growth over year ahead in ‘new chapter’
• Positive Sentiment: Technical traders have also pointed to a bullish chart setup, with the stock recently flashing a golden cross and reaching levels not seen since 2022, which may be helping sentiment. Vodafone share price just flashed a golden cross ahead of earnings: will it jump?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VOD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Vodafone Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vodafone Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Stock Down 7.4%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The cell phone carrier reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.61). The business had revenue of $11.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vodafone Group PLC will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,724,000. Summit Global Investments raised its position in Vodafone Group by 14.1% in the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 73,937 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,164 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 15,864 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.