Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 1.5% – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $41.35 and last traded at $41.27. 28,053,658 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 22,597,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $174.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 171.0% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 122,352 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 77,207 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. ABC Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the first quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 23,261 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 135.8% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,342 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 10,562 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).