Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VZ opened at $40.25 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.61. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. 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 firm has a market cap of $169.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 961.3% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 185,724 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,427,000 after buying an additional 168,224 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $2,621,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 101,136 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,044,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 25,579 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Verizon Communications

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).