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

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.86.

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average is $37.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

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).