Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, September 20, 2019

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC., $37.91, New York symbol T, is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. It also offers traditional phone and satellite TV services. In June 2018, the company purchased media giant Time Warner (now called WarnerMedia) for $103 billion in cash and stock. AT&T plans to use WarnerMedia’s content to attract more users to its wireless and TV services. Thanks partly to the extra cash flow from WarnerMedia, AT&T raised its quarterly dividend with the February 2019 payment by 2.0%. Investors now receive $0.51 a share instead of $0.50. The new annual rate of $2.04 yields a high 5.4%. The company has increased the annual payment for 35 consecutive years. The stock has gained 4% in the past month. That’s partly because activist investment firm Elliott Management sent a letter to AT&T’s board of directors outlining ways to improve shareholder value. Elliott currently owns $3.2 billion worth of the company’s shares, which is equal to roughly 1% of AT&T’s $279.9 billion market…