Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.71.

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.96 on Monday. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,376,000. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).