Blume Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Blume Capital Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 849.8% during the second quarter, now owning 22,092 shares valued at approximately $956,000.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.69, reflecting an increase from its previous dividend of $0.68, with a dividend yield of 6.9%.
• Verizon's quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting $1.22 EPS and revenues of $34.50 billion, up 5.2% year-over-year.

Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 849.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 19,766 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the second quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $169.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).

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