Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $42.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.60. The firm has a market cap of $184.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm 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%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 89.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 9,818 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 35,602 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).