Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.22 on Thursday. Verizon Communications has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 19.8% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 46.2% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 22,140 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 7,001 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 304.7% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 54,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 41,331 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,016,710 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $32,952,000 after purchasing an additional 56,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 28.6% during the third quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 105,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 23,448 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).