Southern Style Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 76,476 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Southern Style Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 76,476 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,000. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.5% of Southern Style Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third 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 during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.44.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).