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

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, a growth of 34.0% from the February 28th total of 2,150,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 915,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 264,413 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $2,716,000 after purchasing an additional 77,005 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $242,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 15,192,635 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $114,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,218 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil during the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. 5.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Telefônica Brasil Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE:VIV traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.91. The company had a trading volume of 95,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 837,012. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.96. Telefônica Brasil has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $10.41. The firm has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $8.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.83.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.01. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.0215 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This is a boost from Telefônica Brasil's previous dividend of $0.02. Telefônica Brasil's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $10.40 to $9.20 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.80 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised Telefônica Brasil from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, New Street Research cut shares of Telefônica Brasil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.97.

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.