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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIV. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Telefônica Brasil in the third quarter worth about $5,967,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Telefônica Brasil in the third quarter worth about $5,135,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 49.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,171,789 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $12,034,000 after acquiring an additional 385,207 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 14.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,206,334 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $18,261,000 after acquiring an additional 275,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 96.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 544,019 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $4,466,000 after acquiring an additional 267,652 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VIV shares. Barclays raised their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $11.50 to $11.80 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com cut Telefônica Brasil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Telefônica Brasil from $9.20 to $10.40 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.07.

Telefônica Brasil Price Performance

Shares of Telefônica Brasil stock remained flat at $8.21 during trading on Monday. The stock had a trading volume of 753,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,183. The firm has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Telefônica Brasil has a 52-week low of $8.01 and a 52-week high of $11.43.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Telefônica Brasil will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Telefônica Brasil

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.