F&V Capital Management LLC Has $9.23 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

F&V Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 220,026 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,215 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.7% of F&V Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. First Bancorp Inc ME grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 17,979 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 22,649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the period. DLK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Community Bank of Raymore boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Community Bank of Raymore now owns 6,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.02. 19,707,390 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,883,477. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.98. The stock has a market cap of $172.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).