AGF Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 32.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,190 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,258 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,963 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after acquiring an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

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).