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Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is often considered a stable investment for conservative income investors. It’s the largest wireless carrier in the United States, pays a high dividend, and has raised its payout annually for nearly two decades.
Yet Verizon has actually delivered shockingly dismal long-term returns. If you had invested $1,000 in Verizon on Feb. 21, 2014 — the fateful day it took full control of Verizon Wireless by buying out Vodafone‘s (NASDAQ: VOD) 45% stake in the joint venture for a staggering $130 billion — your investment would be worth roughly $740 today. Even if you had reinvested all your dividends, your stake would only be worth about $1,140.
To put that into perspective, a $1,000 investment in an S&P 500 index fund with reinvested dividends would have blossomed to $2,730 today. Let’s see why Verizon underperformed the market by such a wide margin — and whether it will ever recover.