Natural Investments LLC Buys 1,553 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Natural Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,114,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 22,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,155 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

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).