Verus Capital Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 8,842 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.6% of Verus Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $40.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.41. The stock has a market cap of $170.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.41 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.71%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).