Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook of VZ FY2026 Earnings

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Verizon Communications in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the cell phone carrier will post earnings of $4.84 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $4.89. The consensus estimate for Verizon Communications’ current full-year earnings is $4.69 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verizon Communications’ Q4 2026 earnings at $1.17 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $172.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.46. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,904,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,433,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,733 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,322,700,000 after buying an additional 1,101,504 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,504,150,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).