Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys 2,599 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 157,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,599 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.7% of Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $40.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $170.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.15 and its 200-day moving average is $41.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).