Hilltop Holdings Inc. Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 48.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,255 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.30 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).