AT&T ups its dividend

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC. $30 (New York symbol T; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 7.3 billion; Market cap: $219.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 6.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. It also offers traditional phone and satellite TV services. In June 2018, the company completed its $103 billion cash-and-stock purchase of media giant TimeWarner (New York symbol TWX). AT&T plans to use Time Warner content to attract more users to its wireless and TV services. Thanks partly to the extra cash flow from TimeWarner, AT&T plans to raise its quarterly dividend by 2.0%. Starting with the February 2019 payment, investors will receive $0.51 a share, up from $0.50. The new annual rate of $2.04 yields a high 6.8%. The company has now raised the annual payment for 35 consecutive years. AT&T is still a buy. buy…