Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $679,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Impax Asset Management Group plc cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 89.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 126,044 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew 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 purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.65 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.93 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).