Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Upgraded to “Sector Outperform” at Scotiabank

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) was upgraded by Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $54.50 price objective on the cell phone carrier’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $50.25. Scotiabank’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.51% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.28.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $51.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $215.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.40 and a 200 day moving average of $42.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after buying an additional 7,509,055 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.