Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.50-4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.59.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $41.82. 2,670,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,501,445. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $33.34 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. 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 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).