Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.4118.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $114,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 394,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,922 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 125,914 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,614,000 after acquiring an additional 7,668 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, Stillwater Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $959,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.73 and a 200-day moving average of $42.36. The company has a market capitalization of $175.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).