Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 14,300 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 388,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,300 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $16,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $309,551,000 after acquiring an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.60 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.14 and its 200 day moving average is $42.47. The company has a market cap of $171.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).