Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its Verizon stake by 3.1% in the first quarter, buying 73,159 additional shares and bringing its holding to 2.45 million shares worth about $123 million.
• Verizon reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS of $1.28 versus estimates of $1.21, though revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $34.44 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.7075 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 6.4%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a target price of $50.59.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,450,129 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 73,159 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.6% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ owned about 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $122,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 331,962 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $13,521,000 after acquiring an additional 17,495 shares during the period. Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 14,862 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $89,499,000 after purchasing an additional 639,380 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and BT Group announced a 50:50 joint venture to combine their international enterprise operations, which could strengthen Verizon’s global connectivity offering and improve its long-term competitiveness. Reuters article on BT, Verizon announce joint venture for international enterprise units
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary notes that the BT-Verizon deal could simplify Verizon’s international operations and better position the company for multinational enterprise customers, but the benefit is likely longer term. WSJ article on BT, Verizon to Form International Joint Venture
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, creating index rebalancing pressure and likely heavy selling from passive funds tracking the benchmark. MSN article on Dow Jones S&P indices replaces Verizon with Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Verizon expects an estimated second-quarter loss tied to asset reclassification and restructuring charges added to concerns about earnings quality and near-term profitability. Seeking Alpha article on Verizon reclassifies assets, expects estimated Q2 loss
• Negative Sentiment: Broader telecom weakness was also amplified by speculation that SpaceX/Starlink could eventually challenge legacy wireless carriers, increasing competitive pressure on Verizon. Barron's article on SpaceX might bring mobile phone to market

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $44.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The business's fifty day moving average is $46.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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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