Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $4.50-$4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.59. Verizon Communications also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.500-4.700 EPS.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.11. 4,414,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,019,613. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.45. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).