Topic: Growth Stocks

AT&T INC. $34 – New York symbol T

AT&T INC. $34 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 6.2 billion; Market cap: $210.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) is the largest wireless provider in the U.S., with 126.4 million subscribers. It also sells phone, TV and high-speed Internet access to 64.1 million users.

The company recently completed its $48.5-billion purchase (70% stock and 30% cash) of DirecTV, which has 19.6 million satellite TV customers in the U.S. and 12.5 million in Latin America.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, DirecTV boosted AT&T’s revenue by 18.6%, to $39.1 billion from $33.0 billion a year earlier. Excluding costs related to the deal and other unusual items, earnings rose 13.8%, to $0.74 from $0.65.

The company holds cash of $6.2 billion, or $1.01 a share. Its $119.4 billion of long-term debt is a manageable 57% of its market cap.

AT&T will likely earn $2.69 a share in 2015, and the stock trades at 12.6 times that estimate. The $1.88 dividend yields 5.5%.

AT&T is a buy.

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