Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 116,203 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 7,698 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,054 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $749,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,077,000 after buying an additional 33,474 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $307,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.21. 11,757,332 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,484,035. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.71 and a 200 day moving average of $40.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

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).