No matter what's going on in the market or a specific company's history, there are always reasons to consider buying shares in a business. After all, some of the best opportunities in stocks are born from historically tough times.
Motley Fool CAPS hosts a boatload of opinions from more than 115,000 members on more than 5,500 stocks, giving good reasons to own -- or sell -- a stock.
In the case of telecommunications carrier Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), a total of 2,495 members have offered a bullish or bearish opinion. Scouring the detailed information packed in pitches and other comments on the company, here are three of the top reasons to buy Verizon:
Light speed. A large part of Verizon's future is tied to its FiOS initiative to blanket fiber optics across its network and right up to consumer dwellings. With more and more traditional phone service lines being lost to alternatives such as Vonage (NYSE: VG) and cable operators Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), the service is doing well at capturing premium subscribers paying more for high-end services.
Market leader. While Verizon and main competitor AT&T (NYSE: T) trade barbs over who is the "biggest" in terms of wireless subscribers, many investors argue that Verizon is the top dog in telecom land. Verizon Wireless (operated with partner Vodafone (NYSE: VOD)) got the jump on competitors by introducing unlimited wireless plans earlier this year and took a cue from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) to lead the pack with its own open network initiatives.
Cash dividend. Thanks to the substantial cash flow Verizon brings in, the company is generous to shareholders, amounting to a mouthwatering 5.9% yield. With many companies pulling in the reins and reducing cash payouts to remain liquid, investors generally see Verizon in a good position to maintain its dividend.
Of course, there's a lot more devil in the details of these buy-side opinions, which is why CAPS is such a great resource to check and balance your own analysis. You can read the bullish and bearish sides to Verizon and every other stock. To see what the very best CAPS members are saying now about Verizon, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look -- it's all free, and your opinion's welcome, too.
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