Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, March 16, 2018

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC., $37.00, 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 5.4%. AT&T has raised the annual payment for 34 consecutive years. The company now plans to set up its Latin American DirecTV (satellite television) business as separate firm. It will then sell shares through an initial public offering (IPO). Called Vrio Corp., this unit draws 13.6 million subscribers from 11 countries in South America (8) and the Caribbean (3). For 2017, Vrio’s revenue rose 10.9%, to $5.6 billion from $5.0 billion in 2016. Earnings improved to $222 million from a loss of $356 million. To put those amounts in context, AT&T earned $29.5 billion, or $4.76 a share, in 2017 on its revenue of $160.5…