Timing the market is easily one of the most difficult parts of trading. In particular, calling the market bottom and knowing when to get in is usually something investors only know way after the fact. 24/7 Wall St. is looking back to when the S&P 500 bottomed back in March 2009 to see how some of the major blue chips have fared since then.

Back on March 6, 2009, the S&P 500 bottomed out at 666.79, and from there began perhaps the biggest bull market of the modern era. At the most recent close, the S&P 500 was at 2,677.35, more than quadrupling its bottom nearly nine years ago.

So how does this stack up against Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)?

On an adjusted close basis, Verizon ended March 6, 2009, at $16.37 a share, or at $25.59 on an unadjusted basis. Verizon most recently closed at $47.96 on an adjusted basis.

Just eyeballing the numbers here, we can see that Verizon’s growth over this nine-year period was outpaced by the S&P 500 and the markets in general, with its shares gaining nearly 200%. This is one of the few instances when the markets have outpaced a blue chip stock.

If you had invested $1,000 in Verizon back then, you would have $2,929.75 as of Thursday’s close.

Over the past 52 weeks, Verizon has underperformed the broad markets, with its shares down about 4%. In just 2018 alone, Verizon is down closer to 9%.

Shares of Verizon were last seen trading near $48, with a consensus analyst price target of $55.88 and a 52-week range of $42.80 to $54.77.

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