Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

VZ has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.93 on Friday. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $37.15 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.17 and its 200 day moving average is $41.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.79%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,500,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares during the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 22,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 26.7% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 20,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 75,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,393,000 after acquiring an additional 13,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 8,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).