Crumly & Associates Inc. Purchases New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Crumly & Associates Inc. purchased 8,020 shares of Verizon Communications Inc. valued at approximately $347,000 in the second quarter.
• Verizon reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22, exceeding estimates and noted a revenue increase of 5.2% year-over-year.
• The company has declared a dividend increase to $0.69 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 6.3% with a payout ratio of 63.17%.

Crumly & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,020 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347,416 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,062,750,000 after acquiring an additional 431,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,904,840,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

VZ opened at $43.99 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.38. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm'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. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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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