Stewardship Advisors LLC Has $259,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stewardship Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,472 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd 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. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.61. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.29.

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).