Community Bank N.A. Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Community Bank N.A. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 209,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.2% of Community Bank N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,877 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 70.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 32,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 13,527 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 130,575 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.1% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 16,222 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $44.34 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.70. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications 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).