Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.68.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,963 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after acquiring an additional 104,447 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ opened at $40.09 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 yield of 6.64%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).