Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to Issue $0.68 Quarterly Dividend

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.6775 per share by the cell phone carrier on Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%.

Verizon Communications has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 20 years. Verizon Communications has a dividend payout ratio of 55.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Verizon Communications to earn $4.86 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 55.8%.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.12. The stock had a trading volume of 24,999,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,058,449. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).