Verizon (VZ) Stock Slides on Ratings Downgrade
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Verizon Communications (VZ) - Get Report are down 0.61% to $55.36 in pre-market trading on Wednesday after Oppenheimer cut its rating on the stock to "perform" from "outperform" on valuation.
"We remain optimistic on long-term wireless and fiber fundamentals, but the stock is now $2 above our prior price target and is trading at relative highs on several metrics (relative dividend yield/EBITDA multiple)," the firm wrote in a note released earlier today.
The telecommunications company is "well positioned" and deserves a higher multiple, but faces near-term pressures such as spectrum auctions, FCC regulation changes and the new iPhone, Oppenheimer noted.
Fundamental impacts should nonetheless be minimal, and the firm remains "very optimistic" long term on wireless and fiber fundamentals.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of A.
Verizon's strengths such as its solid stock price performance, revenue growth, expanding profit margins, growth in earnings per share and increase in net income. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: VZ
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.