Enterprise Financial Services Corp Has $793,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,322 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,963 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Scotiabank increased 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. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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).