Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,113 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after buying an additional 1,216,963 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,679,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,556,633. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $172.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.43.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).