Blue chip giant AT&T (T) announced late Friday that it will increase its quarterly dividend payment.
The telecom raised its dividend to 43 cents per share, up 2.4% from 42 cents per share, which would be an increase from $1.68 to $1.72 a share on an annualized basis. It marks the 27th straight annual dividend increase by the company. AT&T also said that its board authorized new stock buyback plan of 300 million shares, or about 5% of its shares outstanding.
The dividend will be paid Feb. 1 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 10.
"This dividend increase, combined with the repurchase authorization, reflects the board's confidence in our ability to generate strong cash flows," said AT&T's CEO, Randall Stephenson, in a statement.
Last week, a number of big banks, including BB&T (BBT) and Bank of America (BAC) indicated that they plan to increase their dividends upon passage of the Federal Reserve's second round of stress tests.
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