Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Announces $0.67 Quarterly Dividend

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.665 per share by the cell phone carrier on Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th.

Verizon Communications has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Verizon Communications has a payout ratio of 56.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Verizon Communications to earn $4.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.2%.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $177.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.78. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FIL Ltd bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $317,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $316,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 61,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 26,997 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 12,996 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 90.5% in the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 28,387 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 13,487 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).