Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s 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 Up 2.8 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average is $38.44. Verizon Communications has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 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 available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).