Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications updated its FY24 guidance to $4.50-4.70 EPS.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $176.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $33.34 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.05 and a 200-day moving average of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).