Evercore ISI analyst Kutgun Maral upgraded the rating on Verizon (VZ – Research Report) to a Buy on April 8, setting a price target of $48.00.
Kutgun Maral has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors that highlight Verizon’s strategic positioning and growth potential. Despite Verizon’s stock underperforming relative to its peers, Maral notes that the company has shown significant progress in improving postpaid subscriber trends and maintaining momentum in its business wireless segment. Additionally, Verizon’s consistent achievement of broadband subscriber targets and its strategic fiber efforts are seen as strong indicators of future growth.
Maral also emphasizes the potential financial benefits from Verizon’s pending acquisition of Frontier, which could enhance its fiber footprint and provide substantial synergy opportunities. The analyst believes that the market has not fully recognized the resilience of Verizon’s wireless service revenue growth and the attractive financial profile that supports future buybacks and excess capacity. Given these factors, Maral views Verizon as a top pick in the wireless sector and a compelling value investment, leading to the upgrade from In Line to Outperform.
In another report released on April 7, Raymond James also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $47.00 price target.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 8 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of VZ in relation to earlier this year.