15 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Passive Income

4. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is a New York-based telecommunications company. It recently announced its Q1 2025 earnings, which showed strengths on various fronts. The company posted revenue of $33.5 billion, up 1.5% from the same period last year. The revenue exceeded analysts’ estimates by $204.3 million. It ended the quarter with solid momentum across both its mobility and broadband segments. The company reported industry-leading total wireless service revenue of $20.8 billion. It also achieved its strongest wireless retail core prepaid net additions since acquiring TracFone. In the broadband space, Verizon continued to gain market share, fueled by strong demand for both its Fios service and fixed wireless access offerings.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s cash position also remained strong. The company generated $7.8 billion in operating cash flow, up from $7.1 billion in Q1 2024. Its free cash flow of $3.6 billion also grew from $2.7 billion in the prior-year period. Due to this cash generation, the company was able to raise its dividends for 18 consecutive years. Currently, it offers a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.33%, as of April 24.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was a part of 74 hedge fund portfolios at the end of Q4 2024, as per Insider Monkey’s database, up from 57 in the previous quarter. The stakes owned by these hedge funds are worth nearly $3 billion in total. With over 12.3 million shares, GQG Partners was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q4.