Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Scotiabank from $48.00 to $48.50 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the cell phone carrier's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.76 on Tuesday, hitting $43.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,139,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,139,406. The firm has a market cap of $183.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50-day moving average is $43.06 and its 200 day moving average is $42.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).