Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Raised to “Buy” at DZ Bank

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $40.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock. DZ Bank’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 1.09% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).