Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.50-$4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.59. Verizon Communications also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.500-4.700 EPS.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.11. 4,414,099 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,019,613. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.45. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $164.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).