The Dividend Daily

Mobile phone carrier Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) on Tuesday said that its first half profit jumped nearly 15% from last year, helped by recent acquisitions.

The Berkshire, England-based company reported first half net income of 4.58 billion pounds, or $7.6 billion, compared with 3.99 billion pounds in the first half of last year. Those results were in-line with what Wall Street analysts had expected.

Group revenue from continuing operations fell 3%, while reported revenue rose 9% from last year to 21.8 billion pounds.

Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its previous full-year guidance for operating profit between 10 billion pounds and 11.8 billion pounds.

Vodafone shares fell 54 cents, or -2.3%, in morning trading Tuesday.

The Bottom Line
We have avoided shares of VOD since our early June coverage began last year, when the stock was trading at $31.63. The company has a 6.82% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $23.18. The stock has technical support in the $21 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $25 price level. We would remain on the sidelines for now.

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

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