Western Financial Corp CA Boosts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Western Financial Corp CA lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. 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.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.67. The company had a trading volume of 10,000,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,374,984. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $31.26 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.27.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).