Union Savings Bank Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Union Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $41.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).