VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) Trading 4.2% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• VEON shares rose 4.2% to $67.75, reaching a session high of $67.64, while trading volume was 44% below average.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with three Buy ratings and two Holds and an average price target of $72.00.
• VEON exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.69 EPS versus the $1.46 estimate and revenue of $1.27 billion versus $1.23 billion expected; a company director also purchased $840,000 of shares.

VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON - Get Free Report) shares rose 4.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $67.64 and last traded at $67.75. Approximately 53,926 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 95,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised VEON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Northland Securities began coverage on VEON in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised VEON from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of VEON in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

VEON Trading Up 5.2%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $56.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.49. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.47 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30.

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.23. VEON had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that VEON Ltd. will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VEON

In other VEON news, Director K II bought 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.00 per share, with a total value of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 91,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,096,000. This trade represents a 19.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of VEON

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in VEON by 36.8% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of VEON by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,431 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VEON in the second quarter worth $170,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of VEON by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,014 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of VEON by 14.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.30% of the company's stock.

About VEON

VEON Ltd NASDAQ: VEON is a global telecommunications and digital services provider headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Originally founded as VimpelCom in Russia in 1992, the company rebranded to VEON in 2017 to reflect its transformation into a technology-driven operator. VEON operates as a holding company with direct investments in mobile and internet service providers across multiple emerging markets, delivering voice, data and digital services to individual and enterprise customers.

Through its operating subsidiaries, VEON offers a broad portfolio that includes 2G/3G/4G mobile access, fixed broadband, digital lifestyle applications and mobile financial services.

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