Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $46.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.84. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $52,000. Novem Group increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.5% during the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 20,240 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.6% during the first quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 13,852 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. 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).