Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0% – What’s Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price fell 0% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $39.54 and last traded at $39.60. 8,649,079 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 17,898,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.2 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.86. The stock has a market cap of $164.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).