Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Monday morning. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.49 on Monday. 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 twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.56 and its 200 day moving average is $38.33.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FIL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew 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 valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 26,997 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC grew 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 valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. grew 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 valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 13,487 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).