AT&T will hold your dividend steady

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC. $29 is a buy. The company (New York symbol T; Income-Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 7.2 billion; Market cap: $208.8 billion; Dividend yield: 7.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) purchased media giant Time Warner (now called WarnerMedia) for $103 billion in cash and stock in June 2018. It plans to use that content to attract more users for its wireless and TV services. AT&T continues to pay investors a quarterly dividend of $0.52 a share; the annual rate of $2.08 yields a high 7.2%. That payment seems secure, accounting for 54.5% of its 2020 free cash flow (regular cash flow less capital expenditures) of $27.5 billion. However, it will postpone its usual annual increase in 2021 so it can pay down more of the debt it took on to buy WarnerMedia. As of December 31, 2020, its long-term debt was $153.8 billion, or 74% of its market cap. It also held cash of $9.7 billion. AT&T is a buy. buy. …