Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0.6% Higher – What’s Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) rose 0.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $40.49 and last traded at $40.44. Approximately 3,674,942 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 12,781,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $170.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.58 and a 200 day moving average of $41.83.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Centre Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 55,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 59,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,393,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,037 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during 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 buying an additional 129,171 shares during the period. 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).