Credit Capital Investments LLC Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Credit Capital Investments LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 166,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 17,362 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 9.2% of Credit Capital Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Credit Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arjuna Capital acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $3,995,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 568,135 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,515,000 after buying an additional 17,182 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 827,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,177,000 after buying an additional 270,613 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,835 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 10,918 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.23. 3,519,818 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,526,129. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.81 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $173.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).