BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $31.54 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 702,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 102,937 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $31,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.34 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.69. The company has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).