Waterloo Capital L.P. Takes $1.25 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 642,324 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,489,000 after buying an additional 258,683 shares during the period. Zega Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $224,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 297,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,179,000 after purchasing an additional 30,986 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 1,537,594 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $63,410,000 after purchasing an additional 96,465 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 212,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,750,000 after purchasing an additional 5,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

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).