Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:VOD opened at $10.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Vodafone Group has a one year low of $8.00 and a one year high of $10.60. The company has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.58.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.2355 per share. This represents a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Vodafone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOD. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Vodafone Group in the first quarter valued at $285,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 512.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,396,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168,435 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 19.7% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 8.8% during the first quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 44,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company provides telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. It offers mobile connectivity services comprising end-to-end services for mobile voice and data, messaging, device management, BYOx, and telecoms management, as well as professional and consulting services; and fixed line connectivity, such as fixed voice and data, broadband, software-defined networks, managed WAN, LAN, ethernet, and satellite; and financial services, as well as business and merchant services.