Erste Group Bank Upgrades Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) to “Strong-Buy”

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) was upgraded by research analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on VZ. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $49.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $208.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.55 and a 200-day moving average of $43.48.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,286,423,000 after acquiring an additional 7,509,055 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Verizon Communications

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.