AT&T (T): Conservative income for buy and hold investors

"Recent price weakness in AT&T (NYSE: T) is presenting investors with a high-yield bargain for conservative investors," says Ivan Marchev in Leeb's Income Performance Letter.

"AT&T, a holding in our income portfolio, has had a tough 2008 so far. Its performance has been good in a price-sensitive business environment, despite evidence of greater pressure than expected from both the slowing economy and increased wireless competition.

"So why would anyone consider a phone company given the unfavorable economics? Earnings estimates for AT&T have been cut for the next couple of years due primarily to assumptions of sluggish economic growth in the U.S.

"The answer is that those developments are already reflected in the stock price. The shares now trade at a big discount to the S&P 500 despite similar long-term earnings growth potential of 8-10%. That growth will come particularly from data usage over mobile phones.

"The original Apple iPhone contract went to AT&T and there has been a burst of new product offerings of other so-called 'smart phones,' which are very data intensive. This will drive data usage rates considerably in the next five years.

"What's more, AT&T now pays a rich dividend yield of 5%, more than double the S&P 500. We like the stock for conservative, buy-and-hold income investors."

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