Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, telecom giant Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Verizon's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Verizon facts
|
Headquarters (Founded)
|
New York, N.Y. (1983)
|
|
Market Cap
|
$80.8 billion
|
|
Industry
|
Diversified telecommunication services
|
|
Trailing-12-Month Revenue
|
$102.8 billion
|
|
Management
|
CEO Ivan Seidenberg (since April 2002)
CFO John Killian (since February 2009)
|
|
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)
|
12.5%
|
|
Cash/Debt
|
$1.2 billion/$64.9 billion
|
|
Dividend Yield
|
6.6%
|
|
Competitors
|
AT&T (NYSE: T )
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S )
Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q )
|
|
CAPS Members Bullish on VZ Also Bullish on
|
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL )
|
|
CAPS Members Bearish on VZ Also Bearish on
|
Citigroup (NYSE: C )
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG )
|
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 94.2% of the 3,437 members who have rated Verizon believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include rett448 and inastrangeland.
Earlier this month, rett448 reminded our community that Verizon is "heavily investing in their infrastructure (4G wireless and FiOS), and are positioning their network to be able to handle the increasing bandwidth the internet and HD video requires." Our CAPS member continues: "Additionally, the agreement limiting the Iphone to ATT’s network will expire in 2010, potentially allowing the next Iphone model to be compatible with Verizon."
In a pitch from two weeks later, inastrangeland also helped Fools see beyond Verizon's horizon:
Huge cash flow, and in any and all metrics it outperforms its peers. Now add the fact that they are currently rolling out 4G services and will be adding Android handsets this quarter and next year, I'm speculating, will get the iPhone. Apple cannot resist the 81 million customers on the Verizon network. Not to mention that [Verizon] is rolling out FIOS, the cable competitor in its landline territory. It's a solid company, with solid growth in spite of a bad economy and you get 6.5% just to own it.
What do you think about Verizon, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
RSS Headlines
Fool UK