Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares were up 0.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $41.25 and last traded at $41.22. Approximately 2,060,429 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 18,511,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day moving average is $41.37. The stock has a market cap of $173.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).