Squarepoint Ops LLC Invests $634,000 in VEON Ltd. $VEON

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,758 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Samson Rock Capital LLP bought a new position in VEON in the 2nd quarter worth about $138,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of VEON in the second quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of VEON in the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in VEON in the second quarter worth approximately $283,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in VEON by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,288 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. 21.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VEON Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VEON opened at $52.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.03. VEON Ltd. has a 12-month low of $34.55 and a 12-month high of $64.00.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.07). VEON had a return on equity of 58.72% and a net margin of 15.26%.The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion.

VEON declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, November 17th that allows the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the Wireless communications provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VEON. Wall Street Zen lowered VEON from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded VEON from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

VEON Profile

VEON Ltd (NASDAQ: VEON) is a global telecommunications and digital services provider headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Originally founded as VimpelCom in Russia in 1992, the company rebranded to VEON in 2017 to reflect its transformation into a technology-driven operator. VEON operates as a holding company with direct investments in mobile and internet service providers across multiple emerging markets, delivering voice, data and digital services to individual and enterprise customers.

Through its operating subsidiaries, VEON offers a broad portfolio that includes 2G/3G/4G mobile access, fixed broadband, digital lifestyle applications and mobile financial services.