The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $50.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VZ. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $41.73 on Monday. Verizon Communications has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).