Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) dropped 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $41.80 and last traded at $42.00. Approximately 1,971,788 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 18,516,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $177.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).