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.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.15. The company had a trading volume of 14,988,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,086,621. 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 current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.87 and its 200-day moving average is $50.77. The company has a market capitalization of $189.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 7th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.67%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 51.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays downgraded Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Scotiabank downgraded Verizon Communications from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.94, for a total transaction of $79,364.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,913.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 4,674 shares of company stock valued at $237,377 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.