VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

VEON has been the subject of several other research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VEON in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of VEON from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Northland Securities started coverage on shares of VEON in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $74.00 price target on shares of VEON and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of VEON from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

VEON Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VEON opened at $54.52 on Tuesday. VEON has a 52 week low of $42.60 and a 52 week high of $64.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.40. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.14 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. VEON had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 1.24%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.30 EPS. Research analysts predict that VEON will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of VEON

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lingotto Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of VEON by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 6,060,852 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $318,619,000 after buying an additional 16,758 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of VEON by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 977,400 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $51,382,000 after buying an additional 390,294 shares in the last quarter. Solus Alternative Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of VEON by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Solus Alternative Asset Management LP now owns 887,002 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $46,630,000 after buying an additional 30,900 shares in the last quarter. Panview Capital Ltd grew its stake in VEON by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Panview Capital Ltd now owns 514,927 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $27,070,000 after acquiring an additional 101,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in VEON by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 276,426 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 66,153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

About VEON

VEON Ltd (NASDAQ: VEON) is a global telecommunications and digital services provider headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Originally founded as VimpelCom in Russia in 1992, the company rebranded to VEON in 2017 to reflect its transformation into a technology-driven operator. VEON operates as a holding company with direct investments in mobile and internet service providers across multiple emerging markets, delivering voice, data and digital services to individual and enterprise customers.

Through its operating subsidiaries, VEON offers a broad portfolio that includes 2G/3G/4G mobile access, fixed broadband, digital lifestyle applications and mobile financial services.