Updating your Income stocks: AT&T, Verizon & Quaker

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC. $17 (www.att.com) is a buy. In the quarter ended March 31, 2024, the telecom giant added 389,000 new cellphone subscribers under long-term contracts (net of cancellations). However, lower sales of new equipment cut revenue in the quarter by 0.4%, to $30.03 billion from $30.14 billion a year earlier. Earnings before unusual items also fell 8.3%, to $0.55 a share from $0.60. However, AT&T’s $1.11 dividend, which yields 6.5%, still looks safe. The company expects to generate free cash flow (regular cash flow less capital expenditures) of about $17.5 billion in 2024, which covers this year’s aggregate dividend payout of about $8 billion. AT&T is a buy. VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. $39 (www.verizon.com) is a buy. The company is the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. after AT&T (see above). It signed 75,000 new subscribers (net) to long-term contracts in the first quarter of 2024, which helped lift its revenue by 0.2%, to $32.98 billion from $32.91 billion. However, earnings declined 4.2%, to $1.15 a share from $1.20,…