Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 474,807 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,990 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.5% of Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $214,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,883,733 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $251,559,000 after buying an additional 646,736 shares during the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 133.0% during the 2nd quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 11,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,450 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 78,336 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,390,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, MGB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $317,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.7%

VZ stock opened at $40.91 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $172.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

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).