Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $38.87 and last traded at $38.75. Approximately 8,952,265 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 22,046,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,201 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $808,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 181.6% in the 4th quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 38,367 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 24,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 59,250 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 20,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 111,817 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).