Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Telefónica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OLD Mission Capital LLC grew its stake in Telefónica by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 242,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 63,074 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in Telefónica in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Telefónica by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 55,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 4,961 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Telefónica by 140.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 49,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospect Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Telefónica in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TEF opened at $4.32 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.12 and a 200 day moving average of $4.44. Telefónica has a 12 month low of $3.82 and a 12 month high of $4.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.1576 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio is currently -84.62%.

About Telefónica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.