Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,701,584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 74,138 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $73,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $39.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $167.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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).