Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

VOD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Vodafone Group Public in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th.

Vodafone Group Public Stock Performance

VOD opened at $10.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.61. Vodafone Group Public has a twelve month low of $8.00 and a twelve month high of $10.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Vodafone Group Public Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.2355 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Vodafone Group Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group Public

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VOD. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 16.8% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 25,696,928 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $240,780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690,617 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 341.2% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 4,146,322 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206,506 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Vodafone Group Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,646,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vodafone Group Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,969,000. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 14,598,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $123,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,935 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vodafone Group Public 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.