Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.11.

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 26.3% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 124.1% during the third quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 37,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after buying an additional 20,778 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.83 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.77. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).