Mendel Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mendel Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.65 on Monday. 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 $35.93 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).