Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.68 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.61. The company has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).