Based on the aggregated intelligence of 115,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, telecom giant AT&T (NYSE:T) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin and shouldn't be taken lightly; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at AT&T's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
AT&T facts
|
Headquarters (Founded) |
Dallas, Texas (1983) |
|
Market Cap |
$180.86 billion |
|
Industry |
Telecom Services |
|
TTM Revenue |
$122.09 billion |
|
Management |
CEO Randall Stephenson CFO Richard Lindner |
|
Return on Equity (avg. last three years) |
12.2% |
|
Major Competitors |
Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) |
|
CAPS members bullish on T also bullish on |
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) General Electric (NYSE:GE) |
|
CAPS members bearish on T also bearish on |
General Motors (NYSE:GM) Citigroup (NYSE:C) |
Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Over on CAPS, fully 794 of 838 of the All-Star members who have rated AT&T -- some 95% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include rd80 and DemonDoug, both of whom are ranked in the top 1% of our community.
In June, rd80 noted that AT&T
is one of the best values among large cap stocks. ... Wireless growth has been strong enough to more than offset shrinking land line phone service and the triple play TV-Internet-phone service has a lot of growth potential-and a lot of competition. A safe dividend yield that's higher than treasuries and is likely to get hiked year after year makes this stock a compelling option for income investors.
A more recent pitch from DemonDoug last month shared that bullish feeling, further stressing the stock's dividend-paying qualities:
Use an iphone? You are using AT&T. Use a blackberry? Chances are you are using AT&T. Think we'll be using cell phones in 5 years? 10 years? 20? I do. And with a strong positon, strong dividend, and organically growing industry, with an industry that has very little competition, you are looking at a solid investment, if nothing else for the income. I'm not a big fan of their debt load, but that comes with the territory of being a telecom, being very capex intensive.
What do you think about AT&T, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 115,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.
