Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price was up 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.12 and last traded at $40.04. Approximately 2,091,974 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 18,411,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $168.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).