CORDA Investment Management LLC. Has $34.93 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 807,241 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,982 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 2.6% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $34,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.34%.

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).