Zacks Research Has Bearish Estimate for VZ Q2 Earnings

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Verizon Communications in a report released on Tuesday, May 13th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the cell phone carrier will post earnings per share of $1.16 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.19. The consensus estimate for Verizon Communications’ current full-year earnings is $4.69 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verizon Communications’ Q3 2025 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.14 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.25 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $1.20 EPS.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong 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 $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $183.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.01. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $4,333,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).