Kerusso Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 23.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,388 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,010 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,790,000 after acquiring an additional 31,354 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $89,499,000 after purchasing an additional 639,380 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 697.0% during the 4th quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,189,000 after purchasing an additional 412,018 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $97,059,000 after purchasing an additional 316,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,171,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.
Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2%
Verizon Communications stock opened at $48.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.41 and a 200 day moving average of $47.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.
About Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.
The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.
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