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

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03, RTT News reports. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter 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 Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of VZ opened at $39.69 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.44.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).