Friday, December 13, 2013

Dividend Increase: T

AT&T (T) is increasing its quarterly dividend by 2.2%, from $0.45 to $0.46 per share, putting the company on track for its 30th consecutive year of dividend growth (news release). Given that I own 55 shares of T, my quarterly dividend increases from $24.75 to $25.30 and my yield on cost becomes 6.70%. The extra $2.20 in annual dividend income raises my forward 12-month dividend total to $3,912.

7 comments:

  1. That is good to hear. Even small percentages still counts as increase, would be nice if they can keep up with official inflation numbers.
    Hoping the last one Intel does increase the dividend by Feb 2014. Always nice to keep seeing the plan works. Looking forward for your year end complete detailed analysis and performance track.

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    1. Div Investor: Thanks for your comment. A small dividend increase is better than nothing, but it would be nice if T's dividend growth rate picks up a bit at some point in the near future.

      I am looking forward to writing my annual review. Given all my purchases in Q4, there will be quite a lot to write about!

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  2. DGM,

    Not a surprising move here. A raise is a raise, albeit pretty close to inflation. 1 cent raises will eventually lose out to inflation at which time I'll have to revisit my thesis here. I do love the yield, however.

    You're nearing $4k in forward dividend income. Nice!

    Best wishes.

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    1. DM: I agree, it's not surprising, but at least T is highly predictable, which is rare in the stock market.

      It will be quite remarkable when my forward 12-month dividend total hits $4,000. The dividend income projection I posted at the start of 2013 will need to be revised to account for recent events.

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  3. I am happy for this increase. I hold 87 shares and I am thinking adding more shares as the stock is going lower these days. This increase is a proof to me that this company is doing well and all the news about their problems are just a hot air otherwise they wouldn't be increasing dividends if they had economical issues, right?

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    1. Martin: AT&T seems pretty committed to its dividend growth streak, so I would not be surprised if they were to give token increases even during difficult times. That said, the company continues to produce strong free cash flows that provide ample coverage of the dividend; the main question is whether the growth rate will pick up at some point. I have not thought about adding to my position, but as the stock becomes more attractively valued, it is something I will consider.

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