Citi Reiterates Hold on Verizon Communications

Citi reiterated its Hold rating on Verizon Communications VZ. In a research report published today, Citi stressed it prefers AT&T ATT to Verizon. In the report, Citi states, "We maintain our Hold rating on Verizon & believe EPS growth for 2012 is likely to grow at a pace that is roughly 10% below the high-end of the consensus range based on our EPS estimate of $2.70, albeit still likely to exceed the consensus average. We still prefer Buy-rated AT&T over Hold-rated Verizon and would consider revisiting our thesis on Verizon's stock on any further meaningful retreat in its share price, given the opportunities to accelerate EPS growth heading into 2012." On Monday, Verizon closed the day at $35.63. Its shares added 0.59% to their value in today's pre-market trading, however, to stand at $35.84. At the same time, AT&T closed at $26.46 on Monday.