Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom (NYSE:TEO) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom S.A. (NYSE:TEO) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $13.03, but opened at $13.72. Morgan Stanley now has a $17.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $13.00. Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom shares last traded at $13.3290, with a volume of 47,891 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on TEO. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Zacks Research raised Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom from $8.60 to $9.20 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alejandro Alberto Urricelqui bought 38,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.43 per share, for a total transaction of $522,292.70. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 399,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,363,243.64. This trade represents a 10.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom in the 1st quarter valued at $8,565,000. Sagil Capital LLP purchased a new stake in Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,629,000. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom in the third quarter valued at about $2,725,000. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 1,009,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,717,000 after purchasing an additional 339,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom in the fourth quarter worth about $1,969,000.

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.75 and a 200 day moving average of $12.05.

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom (NYSE:TEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The utilities provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter. Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom S.A. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom (NYSE:TEO) is an integrated telecommunications provider based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Originally formed through the 1990 privatization of the state-owned Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ENTel), the company was initially backed by Italian state carrier STET and French operator France Télécom. Since its listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TEO, Telecom Argentina has evolved into one of the country’s principal communications groups, offering a comprehensive portfolio of voice and data services.

The company’s core business activities span fixed-line telephony, mobile services, broadband internet and digital television.