Tigress Financial Raises Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $55.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective raised by Tigress Financial from $52.00 to $55.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Tigress Financial currently has a buy rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp decreased 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 note on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $44.52 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.20 and its 200-day moving average is $41.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second 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. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,400,000 after acquiring an additional 428,776 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).