Verizon Stock Flat Despite Hiking Dividends for 16th Year

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) announced a quarterly dividend of 65.25 cents per share today, up 1.25 cents from its previous quarter. This also marks the 16th consecutive year the telecommunications name has hiked dividends. At last check, VZ is up 0.1% at $41.35.

The equity has struggled on the charts lately, earlier slipping to a roughly seven-year low of $41.09. Shares have been chopping lower since breaching a floor at the $44 in late August, which had contained a previous pullback in July. Year-to-date, VZ is down 20.3%.

The options pits remain optimistic, per Verizon Communication stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.41 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks in the 84th percentile of its annual range. This suggests calls have been more popular than usual over the past two weeks. 

7 Water Stocks to Buy as the World Dries Up

Many of us will read this and be oblivious to the worldwide crisis. But if the current trends continue, it will become real to all of us soon enough. Most of us learned in elementary school that 97% of the world's water is salt water. And only about 1% of the total water supply is drinkable.

That is becoming difficult math for several areas of the world. A severe, multi-year drought is causing water levels to sink to historically low levels. And the federal government is threatening to cut water use by 25% in the most-affected states of Arizona, California, and Nevada.

And even if we're not put under water restrictions, we are all likely to see higher costs for food. One reason for that is that about 25% of the nation's food supply comes from California. An American Farm Bureau Federation survey conducted in 2021 found that 40% of farmers sold off part of their cattle herds.

 But opportunities present themselves in the midst of crisis, and this is no difference. In this special presentation, we're looking at seven water stocks that look like smart buys as the world grapples for solutions.

View the "7 Water Stocks to Buy as the World Dries Up".