Sienna Gestion Acquires 23,252 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Sienna Gestion grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 247,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 23,252 shares during the quarter. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.72 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $167.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

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).