Curi Capital LLC Buys 27,349 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Curi Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 367,891 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 27,349 shares during the period. Curi Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hudock Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $40.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.42 and its 200 day moving average is $42.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $172.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Weiss Ratings cut Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.31.

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).