VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $44.31, but opened at $52.00. VEON shares last traded at $50.79, with a volume of 438,896 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of VEON from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VEON in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VEON from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

VEON Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.56.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 13th. The Wireless communications provider reported ($1.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($2.91). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. VEON had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 58.72%.

VEON declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, November 17th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the Wireless communications provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VEON. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VEON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. RWC Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of VEON in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,048,000. Panview Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of VEON during the third quarter valued at approximately $22,481,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VEON during the second quarter valued at approximately $634,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in VEON during the second quarter worth $267,000. Institutional investors own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

About VEON

VEON Ltd (NASDAQ: VEON) is a global telecommunications and digital services provider headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Originally founded as VimpelCom in Russia in 1992, the company rebranded to VEON in 2017 to reflect its transformation into a technology-driven operator. VEON operates as a holding company with direct investments in mobile and internet service providers across multiple emerging markets, delivering voice, data and digital services to individual and enterprise customers.

Through its operating subsidiaries, VEON offers a broad portfolio that includes 2G/3G/4G mobile access, fixed broadband, digital lifestyle applications and mobile financial services.