Corsicana & Co. Takes $1.03 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 23,536 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,034,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,904,840,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,342 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.47.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.83 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.13. The stock has a market cap of $167.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.