If You Invested $10,000 in Verizon's IPO, This Is How Much Money You'd Have Now

After the Federal Communications Commission approved a $64.7 billion merger between Bell Atlantic and GTE Corp. in 2000, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) was born. It became the largest local telephone company in the United States, serving 25 million mobile phone customers in 40 states. Verizon became a highly anticipated IPO for investors.

The first day of trading for Verizon Communications was July 3, 2000, with an IPO price set to $45.53 per share. An investor purchasing $10,000 of Verizon stock at the IPO would have 220 shares. Fast-forward to today, and Verizon is currently trading at $60.81 per share. A shareholder with 220 shares would have received $8,080 in dividends and a stock appreciation of $3,378 -- totaling $11,458, a 114.58% return on investment over the period of 19 years. Investors would have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.53% not including dividends -- 2.69 percentage points below the S&P 500's CAGR of 4.22% during the same period.

That 114% return over 19 years has been a solid run for a large, established company (although the S&P 500 rose 121% over the same time frame). And there are indications that the company can continue to show growth. But is it a stock for IPO shareholders to continue holding onto?

Source Fool.com