Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New $47,000 Investment in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TEF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 274.0% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 316,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 231,919 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 8.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,898,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,229,000 after buying an additional 146,259 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Telefónica by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 322,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 142,451 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in Telefónica by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 387,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after buying an additional 76,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Telefónica by 78.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 76,657 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefónica Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TEF opened at $3.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.85. Telefónica, S.A. has a 52-week low of $3.82 and a 52-week high of $4.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.02 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.47.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.04. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 10.10% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The company had revenue of $11.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TEF. HSBC upgraded Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Profile

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.