Tectonic Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 17,852 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.6% of Tectonic Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Tectonic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,951 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.3 %

VZ stock opened at $41.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $176.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 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 1-year low of $33.34 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.05 and its 200-day moving average is $41.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.48%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).