Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shot up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $42.22 and last traded at $42.22. 1,632,885 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 18,479,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $176.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57,583 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $222,500,000 after acquiring an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 579,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,035,000 after purchasing an additional 18,346 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).