First City Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First City Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,987 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,655 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 1.0% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.5% during the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 16,246.1% in the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 93,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,876,000 after buying an additional 93,415 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 679,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $28,020,000 after acquiring an additional 56,534 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 3,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 444,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,330,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.46 and its 200 day moving average is $40.78. The stock has a market cap of $186.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).