Verizon has paid its quarterly dividend of $0.7075, marking 20 consecutive years of dividend increases and yielding about 5.6%, nearly double the S&P 500 average. The company’s adjusted earnings and free cash flow comfortably cover the dividend payout, with a payout ratio near 56% and free cash flow covering dividends by roughly 1.9 times. However, Verizon’s debt rose to $172.5 billion after its Frontier acquisition, increasing leverage to 2.5 times adjusted EBITDA, which management aims to reduce to 2.0-2.25 times by 2027. Despite the debt concerns, the market seems confident in Verizon’s turnaround, reflected in a 29.71% share price gain year to date.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLC), often assumed to be a telecom income ETF, primarily holds big tech and media companies like Meta and Alphabet, which pay little dividend. Traditional telecom firms like AT&T, Verizon, and Comc...
The iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) uniquely combines AI-driven growth exposure with traditional value investing. With about 20% of its portfolio in Micron, it benefits from rising AI memory demand, while holdings like Cisco provide AI netwo...
