Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for VZ Earnings

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research lowered their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Verizon Communications in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, December 16th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the cell phone carrier will post earnings of $4.70 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $4.72. The consensus estimate for Verizon Communications' current full-year earnings is $4.61 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verizon Communications' Q4 2025 earnings at $1.19 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.74 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.27 on Thursday, reaching $39.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,821,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,376,221. The company has a market capitalization of $168.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $42.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.88. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $37.15 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,581,848,000 after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after acquiring an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 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).