Hengehold Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,938 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,197 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $250,312,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 153.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,806,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $115,729,000 after buying an additional 1,700,619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $184.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.99 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.26.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).