Narrower focus should spur AT&T higher

Article Excerpt

The shares of AT&T have moved mostly sideways since it spun off its media operations in April 2022. However, it continues to improve its wireless and Internet networks, which should spur subscriber growth and support its current dividend rate. AT&T INC. $19 is a buy. The company (New York symbol T; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 7.1 billion; Market cap: $134.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 5.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., with 217.4 million subscribers. It also has 4.3 million traditional phone customers and 14.0 million high-speed Internet users. As well, AT&T sells wireless and satellite TV services to 21.6 million users in Mexico and Latin America. In June 2018, AT&T acquired media giant Time Warner (later renamed WarnerMedia) for $103 billion in cash and stock. It felt that exclusive content would attract more users to its telecom services. However, the purchase failed to live up to expectations. As a result, in April 2022, AT&T merged…