Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares shot up 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $41.50 and last traded at $41.4690. 24,044,145 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 22,495,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,504,150,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).