Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 2.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded up 2.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $41.37 and last traded at $41.33. 4,005,410 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 18,533,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James lifted 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).