Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, April 27, 2018

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC., $33.04, New York symbol T, is the largest wireless provider in the U.S. It also sells TV cable packages, and high-speed Internet and landline phone services. With the February 2018 payment, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 2.0%. Investors now receive $0.50 a share, up from $0.49. The new annual rate of $2.00 yields a high 6.1%. AT&T has raised the annual payment for 34 consecutive years. The stock fell 5% after the company reported lower-than-expected first quarter results. In the three months ended March 31, 2018, earnings jumped 34.4%, to $4.7 billion, or $0.75 a share, from $3.5 billion, or $0.56, a year earlier. If you disregard unusual items, such as a gain related to its employee’s pension plan, AT&T’s earnings per share in the latest quarter rose 14.9%, to $0.85 from $0.74. That missed the consensus estimate of $0.87. Revenue in the quarter fell 3.4%, to $38.0 billion from $39.4 billion. That also missed the consensus forecast of $39.3 billion…