UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at UBS Group from $44.00 to $45.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.78% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $167.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $37.15 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).