Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.32 and last traded at $41.15. Approximately 3,968,568 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 18,517,395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $175.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during 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%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).