Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 1.5% Higher – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $41.35 and last traded at $41.27. Approximately 28,053,658 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily volume of 22,597,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.38. The company has a market cap of $174.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,504,150,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $661,720,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,385,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).