Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,230,000 shares, an increase of 34.3% from the January 31st total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 940,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Telefônica Brasil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,169 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Telefônica Brasil by 1,429.4% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 8,534 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 7,976 shares during the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $10.60 to $9.20 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. New Street Research lowered Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Telefônica Brasil from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $11.80 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Telefônica Brasil from $10.40 to $9.20 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Telefônica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Telefônica Brasil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.97.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VIV opened at $8.39 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.95. The firm has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.76. 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 52-week low of $7.47 and a 52-week high of $10.63.

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

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.