Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.0%, owning a total of 402,743 shares valued at approximately $18.27 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GQG Partners LLC, Nuveen LLC, and Pacer Advisors Inc., have significantly increased their stakes in Verizon Communications during the first quarter, reflecting strong investor interest.
• Wall Street analysts are generally optimistic about Verizon, with 11 analysts rating it as a hold, 7 as buy, and an average price target set at $47.35.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 402,743 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 22,826 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of VZ opened at $44.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $186.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.95.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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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