Fruth Investment Management Has $732,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fruth Investment Management cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $41.12. 6,653,911 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,298,411. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).