Company Update (NYSE:CTL): Verizon, CenturyLink awarded $150M for network services in Virginia

[at American City Business Journals] – Virginia’s digital government push got a boost this month, with the commonwealth naming two vendors on a new $150 million network services contract. Under this award, called VITAnet, New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Monroe, Louisiana-based CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) will compete for task orders to provide state and local government entities with services relating to the replacement of aging networks and communications infrastructure. Local agency purchases are capped at $150 million. Read more on this. CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) , with a current value of $17.34B, began trading this morning at $31.45. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $31.33 to $31.65 and has traded between $21.94 and $37.00 over the past year. CenturyLink (CTL) shares are currently priced at 11.99x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 15.48x earnings multiple for the same period. And for those looking to make a return holding the stock, the company pays shareholders $2.16 per share annually in dividends, yielding 6.76%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 15 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.68 per share, which would be $0.01 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.07 sequential increase. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $2.61, which would be a $0.10 setback when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $4.43 Billion. If reported, that would be a 0.45% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Jefferies downgraded CTL from Hold to Underperform (Mar 17, 2016). Previously, Deutsche Bank Initiated CTL at to Hold. When considering if the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $29.64, which is 5.76% below where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:CTL) Similar Articles: Market Update: Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) – Verizon, CenturyLink awarded $150M for network services in Virginia Company Update: CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) – CenturyLink launches enhanced Managed Security Services Suite to help organizations detect, prevent and respond to cyberattacks Market Update: CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) – CenturyLink wins DISA network fair opportunity awards