VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Stock Rating Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised VEON from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on VEON in a research report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Northland Securities set a $85.00 price objective on VEON and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VEON currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.33.

VEON Price Performance

NASDAQ:VEON opened at $76.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.52 and a 200-day moving average of $55.93. VEON has a 52 week low of $42.60 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.89 and a beta of 1.62.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.23. VEON had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that VEON will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other VEON news, Director K II bought 15,000 shares of VEON stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.00 per share, with a total value of $840,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 91,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,096,000. The trade was a 19.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VEON

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VEON. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of VEON by 7.2% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,400 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of VEON by 14.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its position in VEON by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 24,328 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,279,000 after buying an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in VEON by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,436 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in VEON by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,754 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $3,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. 21.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VEON Company Profile

VEON Ltd. is a global telecommunications and digital services company that provides mobile and fixed connectivity, communications services, and digital products through operating companies in emerging markets. Its services include voice and data plans, broadband access, mobile financial services, digital entertainment, and business solutions for consumers and enterprises.

VEON operates through well-known regional brands, including Kyivstar in Ukraine, Jazz in Pakistan, Banglalink in Bangladesh, and Beeline in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.