VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on VEON. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VEON in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Northland Securities initiated coverage on shares of VEON in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised VEON from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

VEON Price Performance

NASDAQ:VEON opened at $69.37 on Friday. VEON has a 52-week low of $42.60 and a 52-week high of $71.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.18 and a 200 day moving average of $54.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.61 and a beta of 1.63.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.23. VEON had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 1.24%.The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that VEON will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VEON

In other VEON news, Director K II acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $56.02 per share, for a total transaction of $280,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 96,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,920. The trade was a 5.49% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VEON

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lingotto Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in VEON by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 6,060,852 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $318,619,000 after purchasing an additional 16,758 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of VEON by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,754 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $3,230,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Cygnus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VEON by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cygnus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 53,180 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,777,000 after acquiring an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of VEON by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 38,040 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,000,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its holdings in VEON by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 35,457 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 11,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

VEON Company Profile

VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON) is a global digital communications and services company that provides mobile connectivity, broadband, and digital products in high-growth markets. Its telecommunications operations serve consumers and businesses through mobile voice and data services, messaging, fixed broadband, and related connectivity solutions.

VEON operates through well-known local brands, including Kyivstar in Ukraine, Jazz in Pakistan, Banglalink in Bangladesh, and Beeline in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.