Albion Financial Group UT Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,808 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,262,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $85,295,000 after buying an additional 56,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 919,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,587,000 after acquiring an additional 21,132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.96 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $30.62 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $180.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).