Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications updated its FY24 guidance to $4.50-4.70 EPS.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $31.26 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

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).