Twin City Private Wealth LLC Acquires 830 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Twin City Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,652 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. Twin City Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.77 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.31 and its 200 day moving average is $42.84. The stock has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. 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 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).