Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $39.92 and last traded at $39.85. 2,564,484 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 18,368,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.86. The stock has a market cap of $167.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.81%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).