Verizon Communications - VZ Stock Forecast, Price & News

Verizon Communications Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches. It also provides residential fixed connectivity solutions, such as internet, video, and voice services; and sells network access to mobile virtual network operators. As of December 31, 2021, it had approximately 115 million wireless retail connections, 7 million wireline broadband connections, and 4 million Fios video connections. The company's Business segment provides network connectivity products, including private networking, private cloud connectivity, virtual and software defined networking, and internet access services; and internet protocol-based voice and video services, unified communications and collaboration tools, and customer contact center solutions. This segment also offers a suite of management and data security services; domestic and global voice and data solutions, such as voice calling, messaging services, conferencing, contact center solutions, and private line and data access networks; customer premises equipment; installation, maintenance, and site services; and Internet of Things products and services. As of December 31, 2021, it had approximately 27 million wireless retail postpaid connections and 477 thousand wireline broadband connections. The company was formerly known as Bell Atlantic Corporation and changed its name to Verizon Communications Inc. in June 2000. Verizon Communications Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $61.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, April 25th. Scotiabank cut Verizon Communications from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $60.00 to $51.00 and set a "peer perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 25th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $44.80. The company had a trading volume of 336,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,155,352. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.33. The stock's 50 day moving average is $49.40 and its 200-day moving average is $50.98. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $43.76 and a twelve month high of $56.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 26.95% and a net margin of 15.48%. The business had revenue of $33.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 8th were issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 7th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.30%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.94, for a total value of $79,364.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,780,913.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,674 shares of company stock valued at $237,377. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.