Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Announces Earnings Results

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03, RTT News reports. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications updated its FY24 guidance to $4.50-$4.70 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.500-4.700 EPS.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $38.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.38. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).