Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shot up 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.00 and last traded at $43.95. 1,774,745 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 18,399,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.29. The company has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Violich Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 170,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $4,133,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.8% in the third quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 28,979 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 3,067 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,924,447 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $86,427,000 after acquiring an additional 101,541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).