Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,238 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,860 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.7% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 35,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $208.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 109,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,348,276.88. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.