Calling Verizon

Leading telecommunications company Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), overlooked by many investors, has been sporting an attractive stock price. The company has 116.9 million wireless subscribers, and considering how addicted most of us are to our phones, that’s a large and stable business to be in. Over the last five years, Verizon’s free cash flow has been solidly positive. Verizon has been laying the expensive framework for its 5G network, which has launched in limited markets. That’s great for long-term investors, because 5G should enable Verizon to increase prices on premium customers, while driving new wireless technologies, such as selfdriving cars and virtual reality, that will increase the number of wireless connections customers have. The first 5G product to hit the market is 5G Home, a home wireless product that competes with broadband. Being able to offer home broadband wirelessly will expand Verizon’s market potential and should drive incremental growth. That’s just the beginning of 5G innovations. The company does face intensifying competition, such as from T-Mobile, along with rising costs. It’s carrying more than $100 billion of debt, too. But its stock price reflects that, with its recent singledigit price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and its dividend recently yielding 4.2 percent. Overall, Verizon appears to be a solid value stock with a lot of longterm growth potential. (The Motley Fool has recommended Verizon.)