VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Northland Securities set a $85.00 price objective on VEON and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VEON in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of VEON in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VEON in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VEON from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VEON currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.33.

VEON Price Performance

VEON stock opened at $77.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.67 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. VEON has a 52-week low of $42.60 and a 52-week high of $78.83.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. VEON had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 14.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that VEON will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VEON news, Director K II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $56.02 per share, for a total transaction of $280,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 96,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,920. This trade represents a 5.49% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Institutional Trading of VEON

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. K2 Principal Fund L.P. acquired a new stake in VEON in the fourth quarter worth $1,015,000. Cygnus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of VEON by 36.8% during the second quarter. Cygnus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 53,180 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,777,000 after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VEON by 82.2% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,518 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 13,315 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its position in shares of VEON by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 35,457 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 11,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VEON by 43.0% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,497 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 9,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

About VEON

VEON Ltd. is a global telecommunications and digital services company that provides mobile and fixed connectivity, communications services, and digital products through operating companies in emerging markets. Its services include voice and data plans, broadband access, mobile financial services, digital entertainment, and business solutions for consumers and enterprises.

VEON operates through well-known regional brands, including Kyivstar in Ukraine, Jazz in Pakistan, Banglalink in Bangladesh, and Beeline in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.