Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price shot up 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.52 and last traded at $40.16. 7,090,626 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 18,413,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $169.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.84.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).