Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for VZ FY2025 Earnings

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Verizon Communications in a research report issued on Monday, January 13th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the cell phone carrier will earn $4.69 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $4.70. The consensus estimate for Verizon Communications' current full-year earnings is $4.61 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verizon Communications' Q2 2026 earnings at $1.22 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year.

VZ has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.17. 27,799,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,316,066. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business's 50-day moving average is $41.17 and its 200-day moving average is $41.76. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.10%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).