Schulhoff & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Schulhoff & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,812 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $169.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.04. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

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).