Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.77.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE VZ opened at $41.26 on Friday. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.02. The firm has a market cap of $173.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).