Verizon Remains DJIA’s Worst Performing Stock for 2017

June 17, 2017 by Paul Ausick

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) last week saw its share price dip by $0.09 (about 0.2%) to retain its position as the worst-performing stock among the 30 equities included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. For the year to date, Verizon’s shares are down 13%. However, Chevron is closing in as oil prices drop and now shows a loss for the year of 12.65%.

Verizon’s stock price fell to a new 52-week low of $44.46 in the week ending May 19 but has managed to add nearly 4.9% since then.

The telecom giant closed its $4.5 billion acquisition of Yahoo last week and the company is expected to take a pretax charge of about $500 million in the second quarter related to severance payments and other acquisition and integration costs.

Verizon is expected to shave about 2,000 jobs (15% of a total of around 14,000) at its newly named Oath subsidiary, comprised of Yahoo and AOL, which Verizon purchased about two years ago. Verizon said it expects to save more than $1 billion in operating costs through 2020 as a result of the Yahoo deal.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) announced a new offer last week targeted specifically at Verizon wireless customers. Sprint is offering a full year of unlimited voice and data service to Verizon customers who bring their own phones as part of the switch.

Verizon stock closed at $46.63 per share on Friday, down less than 0.1% for the day. The stock’s 52-week range is $44.46 to $56.95 and the 12-month consensus price target is $49.79, according to MarketWatch. The company’s dividend yield ended the week down slightly at 4.95%.

Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With A Financial Advisor (Sponsored)

Take the quiz below to get matched with a financial advisor today.

Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.

Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the
advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future

Take the retirement quiz right here.