VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Trading 4.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON) shot up 4.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $67.64 and last traded at $67.75. Approximately 53,926 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 95,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded VEON from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VEON in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VEON from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Northland Securities started coverage on shares of VEON in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

VEON Trading Down 1.9%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.94 and a 200 day moving average of $53.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 79.85 and a beta of 1.63.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. VEON had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 1.24%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VEON Ltd. will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other VEON news, Director K II bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $56.02 per share, for a total transaction of $280,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 96,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,377,920. The trade was a 5.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of VEON

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VEON. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in VEON by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of VEON by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,431 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VEON during the second quarter worth about $170,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of VEON by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,014 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of VEON by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About VEON

VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON) is a global digital communications and services company that provides mobile connectivity, broadband, and digital products in high-growth markets. Its telecommunications operations serve consumers and businesses through mobile voice and data services, messaging, fixed broadband, and related connectivity solutions.

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