What is Zacks Research's Forecast for VZ FY2026 Earnings?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Verizon Communications in a report issued on Monday, January 13th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the cell phone carrier will post earnings of $4.78 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $4.74. The consensus estimate for Verizon Communications' current full-year earnings is $4.60 per share.

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

VZ has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $38.32. 20,306,860 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,877,197. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $41.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC now owns 6,119 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 30,801 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 128,066 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,939,000 after buying an additional 5,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 15,987 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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).