Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price traded down 0.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $39.47 and last traded at $39.83. 4,404,007 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 18,447,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $167.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.81%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors 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).