Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.3%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded down 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $39.41 and last traded at $39.69. 2,137,821 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 19,098,148 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.36.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $165.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.41.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).