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HAVE YOU EVER HELD a stock for years and grown to love it? What if your research now says it might be time to break up?
Many years ago, I bought AT&T. It was the perfect stock for a dividend investor like me. It was a dividend aristocrat, meaning it had increased its dividend for at least 25 years. In fact, AT&T had been increasing its dividend for more than three decades.
But while the dividend was always generous, the stock price has long been stagnant. I didn’t care because I was reinvesting my dividends. The dividends bought more shares, thanks to the lower stock price. Those additional shares, in turn, generated more dividend income. It was a virtuous circle.
But today, a great deal has changed in AT&T’s story.
There’s new management. John Stankey, the new CEO, has made some significant moves. He’s turned his back on costly acquisitions like Warner Media and DirectTV. Those deals didn’t pan out and may have cost AT&T more than $50 billion, according to some estimates.
AT&T still has more than $150 billion in debt left from its buying spree. That has Wall Street worried, so Stankey is reversing course, selling portions of the acquired businesses to pay down debt. The expected infusion of roughly $50 billion will take a big chunk out of AT&T’s liabilities.
After the dust settles, current AT&T will be broken into three companies:
AT&T has indicated that it’ll no longer be increasing its dividend. In fact, a big cut is coming. AT&T plans to devote 40% to 43% of the company’s free cash flow to dividend payments. At that rate, analysts expect the dividend could be cut 44% from current levels.
On the plus side, AT&T shareholders will receive shares giving them 71% ownership of the new Warner Bros. Discovery. It’ll be run by David Zaslav, a knowledgeable media insider who’s been CEO of Discovery since 2007. He was previously involved with the launch of CNBC and MSNBC, so he brings a wealth of experience to the newly formed enterprise.
The new spinoff company looks to be strong. Warner Bros. Discovery will be the second-largest media firm by revenue, in the same league as industry giants Netflix and Disney. It could have a market cap above $60 billion, according to one estimate.
To cover all the bases, I decided to research analysts’ estimates. They were all positive for the future growth of the spinoff. This is has led to my current quandary: Should I stay or should I go?
Even though AT&T’s dividend yield will be reduced, the payout will still be healthy. Now that I’m retired, those dividends will provide me with income. What are my options? I see three choices:
I’ll consider these options and do what I always do: Draw up a list of advantages and disadvantages, and then take it from there.
Sonja Haggert is the author of Invest, Reinvest, Rest. You can learn more at SonjaHaggert.com. Follow her on Twitter @SonjaHaggert and check out her earlier articles.
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I recall an earlier version of AT&T before the regional Bells were created. My Uncle owned one stock and that was it. Unfortunately he passed away and left my aunt with the spawn of all the Bells that were created. When I got involved she was working with her tax advisor to figure out what the basis was for all the pieces she had. What a mess!
Good time to cut and run before its too late. Consider a high yield ETF.
My wife only recently sold her ATT stock that she acquired as compensation in the 1980s before divestiture. Her loyalty to the old AT&T was such that she even ignored my pleas to sell her Lucent stock while it was on its way down to nothing.
Compare ATTs stock to that of Verizon.
Verizon has a dividend yield of 4.66% and is the third highest yielding stock in the DJIA. This has all occurred while their stock more than tripled as compared to ATT.
ATT has been a mis-managed company for years. The time to sell it was years ago, and when you factor in lost opportunity costs I think you’ll find your loss to be substantial. It might be tedious, but compare your investment with a hypothetical investment in Verizon over the same years and see where you would be.
I had a similar problem a few years ago when I realized I fell in love with a particular company/stock. Now, the first thing I do when I buy a stock is write down the point where I would get out…my line in the sand. If a company gets healthy and the financials are good I can get back in, but I’m not the nurse that needs to get them back healthy.