Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,956 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 374 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after acquiring an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after purchasing an additional 104,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.98 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.59. The stock has a market cap of $185.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. 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 one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).