Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 2.4%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price traded down 2.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $39.71 and last traded at $39.99. 7,782,485 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 18,879,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foundry Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 868,852 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,831,000 after purchasing an additional 66,156 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 41,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after buying an additional 6,321 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 273,869 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,294,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.6% in the second quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 1,218,844 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,265,000 after buying an additional 12,409 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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).