Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook of VZ FY2025 Earnings

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) – Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their FY2025 EPS estimates for Verizon Communications in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, December 16th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates 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.

VZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.93 on Thursday. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $37.15 and a one year high of $45.36. 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 firm has a market cap of $168.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.87.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.79%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $222,500,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 22,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 26.7% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 20,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 4,243 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 75,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after purchasing an additional 13,319 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 8,685 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).