We recently published a list of the 15 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Passive Income. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) stands against other best dividend stocks for long-term income.

Passive income, which refers to money earned with little ongoing effort, was once largely the domain of the wealthy – those who could afford to invest in rental properties or build up portfolios that reliably generated dividends. However, since the pandemic, the idea has gained fresh momentum, particularly among millennials and Gen Z, who are coming up with increasingly inventive ways to establish passive income sources.

According to experts, the surge in interest is being driven by a mix of tough job market conditions and the strong influence of social media. While passive income can be a viable option for some, it may not live up to the hype for everyone, as the promise of easy earnings often proves more complex in practice.

Side hustles are becoming increasingly popular as a way for people to bring in passive income. Gen Z, in particular, has moved past the misconception that passive income involves no effort. Instead, they see launching a side business as a valid way to earn money alongside a full-time job. In the past, starting a business often meant renting a physical storefront and paying for newspaper ads. Today, it’s a different story—entrepreneurs can build a website from home using platforms like Squarespace, promote products on TikTok, and hold meetings with clients or collaborators over Zoom. For Gen Z—many of whom were born in the late 1990s—these digital tools have been part of their everyday lives for as long as they can remember.

Natasha Stanley, head coach at Careershifters.org, pointed out that individuals now have far more resources at their disposal to build something independently. She observed that access to the entrepreneurial space had become more inclusive and widespread. The shift toward remote work and education during the pandemic, she noted, had also made the idea of self-employment feel more within reach for many people.

One proven way of generating passive income is through investments in dividend stocks. Companies that generate surplus profits often decide to share a portion of that money with their investors through dividends. The amount they return is typically measured using the dividend yield, which is calculated by dividing the yearly dividend payment by the current stock price.

According to Brian Bollinger, founder of Simply Safe Dividends, building a portfolio focused on dividend-paying stocks can be a game-changer. He explains that depending on regular dividend payments—rather than relying solely on profits from selling stocks—can help reduce the risk of draining your investments. Unlike managing rental properties, he notes, collecting dividends requires very little effort. He made the following comment about dividend investing:

“You could be setting yourself up quite nicely. Because not only do stocks pay a dividend, but they might increase the dividend, and they could benefit from price appreciation as a result of improving earnings outlook and so forth. It’s really about finding companies that can pay safe and rising dividends over time. And as long as that holds true over your retirement horizon, that’s a pretty, pretty nice thing to have.”

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Our Methodology:

For this article, we scanned Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds as of Q4 2024 and selected stocks with strong dividend policies, sound financials, and dividend growth histories. These stocks have a minimum of 1% yield, as of April 24. The stocks are then ranked according to hedge funds having stakes in them.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

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.

Overall, VZ ranks 4th on our list of the best dividend stocks for long term passive income. While we acknowledge the potential of VZ as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than VZ but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the dirt cheap dividend stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.