Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.50-$4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.49 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $317,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $316,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 61,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 26,997 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 12,996 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 90.5% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 28,387 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 13,487 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).