Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective upped by Tigress Financial from $52.00 to $55.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $44.52 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 418,526 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,796,000 after buying an additional 4,586 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $318,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,511,000 after purchasing an additional 55,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).