RNC Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 279.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,117 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 24,389 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,700,279,000 after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after buying an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after buying an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.86 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.01.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.34%.

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).