Kowal Investment Group LLC Has $850,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,729 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,951,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $12,713,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 46.3% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 26,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 8,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

VZ traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.65. The company had a trading volume of 8,251,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,852,883. The company has a market capitalization of $175.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.39%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications 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).