Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,171 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,131 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 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 brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.62 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio 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).