Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wolfe Research Analyst Says

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from $50.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Friday. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.85 and its 200-day moving average is $41.61. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).