Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stake in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Telefónica were worth $63,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEF. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Telefónica by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 64,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Telefónica by 2.1% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 135,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,768 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Telefónica by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 7.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 45,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in Telefónica by 11.4% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 32,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Telefónica Trading Up 0.4 %

TEF opened at $3.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $22.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.02 and a beta of 0.68. Telefónica, S.A. has a 12 month low of $3.82 and a 12 month high of $4.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.47.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. The business 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio is presently -84.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on TEF shares. StockNews.com raised Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Telefónica presently has an average 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.