Strs Ohio Has $87.74 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Strs Ohio raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,027,733 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 138,702 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $87,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $169.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.53 and its 200-day moving average is $42.89.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).