Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.68

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 4th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.678 per share by the cell phone carrier on Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67.

Verizon Communications has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Verizon Communications has a payout ratio of 56.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Verizon Communications to earn $4.67 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 57.0%.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.16. 18,096,476 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,511,424. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.52. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $173.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.66.

About Verizon Communications

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).