Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 129,171 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $222,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 22,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.7% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 20,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 75,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after acquiring an additional 13,319 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 8,685 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 364,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,356,000 after acquiring an additional 30,316 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.88. The company has a market capitalization of $168.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.15 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications 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).