Wolfe Research Downgrades Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) to Peer Perform

Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VZ. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.67 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Swedbank AB increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Verizon Communications by 126.0% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 21,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 11,962 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $536,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 78,225 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,513,000 after buying an additional 6,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 14.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,313,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $103,911,000 after buying an additional 299,718 shares during the last quarter. 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).