Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.68 Per Share

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) declared 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 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67.

Verizon Communications has raised its dividend by an average of 2.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 20 years. Verizon Communications has a payout ratio of 57.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Verizon Communications to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.71 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.9%.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ opened at $44.01 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.15. The stock has a market cap of $185.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).