Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Announces 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications updated its FY24 guidance to $4.50-4.70 EPS.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.86. 23,502,896 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,602,553. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.29. The company has a market cap of $176.18 billion, a P/E 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 company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).