Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to Issue $0.68 Quarterly Dividend

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.6775 per share by the cell phone carrier on Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%.

Verizon Communications has a payout ratio of 56.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Verizon Communications to earn $4.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.71 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.8%.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.82 on Friday. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $184.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Verizon Communications stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 61.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).