Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $45.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $40.26 and last traded at $40.10. 6,543,111 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 18,324,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.97.

VZ has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.51.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,500,000 after buying an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 22,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.7% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 20,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 4,243 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 75,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,393,000 after purchasing an additional 13,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 8,685 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.87. The company has a market capitalization of $168.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).