These tech giants aim to boost your value: IBM and Intel

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IBM and Intel are now taking steps that will boost long-term value for shareholders. Those moves should also let them keep raising their dividends. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $123 is a buy. The company (New York symbol IBM; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 888.4 million; Market cap: $109.3 billion; Divd. yield: 5.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) last raised its quarterly dividend by 0.6% with the June 2020 payment. The new annual rate of $6.52 a share yields a high 5.3%. IBM recently announced that it would spin off the Managed Infrastructure Services unit of its Global Technology Services division. That legacy business helps corporate and government clients manage their datacentres. The split will let the remaining company focus on its faster-growing cloud computing and software operations (including Red Hat). The company expects to complete the spinoff by the end of 2021. Meantime, IBM’s revenue in the three months ended December 31, 2020, fell 6.5%, to $20.37 billion from $21.78 billion a..