CapWealth Advisors LLC Acquires 11,383 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CapWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 353,171 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 11,383 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.7% of CapWealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $41.30. 20,387,410 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,819,137. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $173.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

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).