Impax Asset Management Group plc Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,430,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,488,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $158,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,659 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 6,306 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.2% in the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 36,880 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7%

VZ opened at $41.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).