Short Interest in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Rises By 27.0%

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a growth of 27.0% from the October 31st total of 1,110,000 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 661,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Telefônica Brasil Trading Down 5.2 %

NYSE:VIV traded down $0.45 on Friday, reaching $8.21. 745,474 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 803,398. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.38 and its 200-day moving average is $9.08. Telefônica Brasil has a 1-year low of $8.01 and a 1-year high of $11.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefônica Brasil

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Telefônica Brasil by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 19,539 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 3.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,370 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 28,877 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Telefônica Brasil by 5.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,708 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 2.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 56,552 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the period. 5.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Telefônica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.07.

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.