Industry bellwether AT&T (
T
) is a staple to many dividend portfolios as the company boats a
key presence in the telecom space along with the financial
firepower to back it. This well-known Dallas-based giant provides
wireless and wired telecommunications services in the United States
and worldwide, making it the ideal candidate for income investors
who value stability; the company also holds a spot in countless
portfolios, mutual funds, and ETFs as it belongs to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average. Furthermore, AT&T is highly regarded among
dividend investors as it has consistently increased
its distribution payed out to shareholders for 25
years.
Not only is the company's payout record impressive, so too is
the size of its monstrous distribution. As such, below we
highlight seven impressive facts about AT&T's dividend:
1) In 2011, AT&T paid out in total $10.17 billion in
dividends. To put this figure into perspective, it totals out to
roughly
$27.9 million per day
or just about
$322 returned to shareholders every second
.
2) With an annual distribution topping $10 billion, AT&T's
dividend dwarfs a number of nations' annual gross domestic product.
This telecom-giant payed out a dividend which rivals the size of
the economies of the Bahamas ($8 billion), Madagascar ($10
billion), and The Republic of Macedonia ($10
billion).
3) In 1985, AT&T payed out a total of $0.49 per share in
dividends. Compared to its 2011 payout of $1.72 per share, this
marks an impressive 249% increase in its annual distribution
payout. What's even more impressive is that AT&T's dividend
payout has averaged an annual growth rate of 9.6% since
1985, offering up tremendous value to long-term investors looking
to beef up their current income.
4) Investors of all walks and styles have embraced AT&T in
their portfolios thanks to the firm's global presence and
attractive dividend profile. Top institutional holders of AT&T
stock include the Vanguard Group, Evercore Trust Company, Capital
Research Global Investors, and BlackRock. AT&T's largest
individual shareholder, Randall Stephenson with about 941,000
individual shares, will receive cash dividends of about $1.7
million in 2012 from his holdings.
5) Boasting a market cap of $213 billion, its easy to see how
AT&T's hefty cash distribution of $10 billion in 2011 dwarfs
more than a handful of well-known brand names. AT&T's most
recent annual dividend payout rivals the total market
capitalization of Xerox ($9.6 billion), SiriusXM ($9.7 billion),
Harley-Davidson ($9.8 billion), Dr. Pepper Snapple ($9.4 billion),
and Nokia ($10.4 billion).
6) The sheer dollar amount of AT&T's historical payouts is
absolutely massive; since 1987, the company has paid out total cash
dividend of about $90 billion.
7) What can you buy with AT&T's most recent quarterly payout
of $2.58 billion? How about the New York Yankees salaries for 13
years (assuming an annual payroll of $198 million). You can also
afford to buy 1.6 million ounces of gold, 5.2 million iPads, or
retire about 0.016% of the U.S. debt.
Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the
Best Dividend Stocks
, as well as a detailed explanation of
our ratings system here
.