First City Capital Management Inc. Purchases 374 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First City Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.0% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.48. 7,681,422 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,976,872. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.56 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).