Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03, RTT News reports. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Down 0.5 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The stock had a trading volume of 14,953,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,168,572. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.44.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

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).