Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a decline of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 868,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE VIV traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,343,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,801. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. Telefônica Brasil has a 1 year low of $7.47 and a 1 year high of $11.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.95.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. New Street Research lowered Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.47.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Telefônica Brasil by 42.2% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,472 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 6,666 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 393,618 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after buying an additional 5,983 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,828,800 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $15,014,000 after buying an additional 197,500 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 56,552 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 1,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 23.8% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 66,466 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 12,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Telefônica Brasil Company Profile

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.