Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,550,942 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 522,597 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $67,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.03 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.69.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).