Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $45.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $44.74 and last traded at $44.68. 2,297,792 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 18,818,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.62.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

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 has a market cap of $188.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).