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

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.66.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 89.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 35,602 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,342,000 after buying an additional 5,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,952 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 26,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.58. Verizon Communications has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).