Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Sunday.

VZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $178.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.81. Verizon Communications has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

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, topping 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 business posted $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 75,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,393,000 after purchasing an additional 13,319 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 76.7% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 8,685 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 364,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,356,000 after acquiring an additional 30,316 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 324,831 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,588,000 after acquiring an additional 18,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 56,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).