Kowal Investment Group LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,729 shares during the quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.65. 8,251,639 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,852,883. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.06. The firm has a market cap of $175.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.39%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications 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).