Orleans Capital Management Corp LA Buys 3,885 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Orleans Capital Management Corp LA increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,866 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,885 shares during the quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Camden National Bank increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.05 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).