Scotiabank Raises Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $47.25

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its target price upped by Scotiabank from $46.50 to $47.25 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on VZ. TD Cowen raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.99 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $185.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.27. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $31.26 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 170,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,133,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 28,979 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 3,067 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.6% in 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 buying an additional 101,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).