Investors looking to grow their passive income with dividend stocks have two basic options.
Dividend payers that raise their payouts rapidly tend to offer low yields up front, while higher-yielding stocks tend to increase their payouts slowly, if at all.
Conversely, Right now, Alphabet (GOOG 0. 45%) (GOOGL 0. 54%) and AT&T (T 0. 41%) represent opposite ends of the dividend investors' dilemma, in light of current trends.
Fit that could be used to boost dividend payments are surging for the parent company behind Google and YouTube, but it offers a very low yield (something worth watching), considering recent developments.
AT&T offers a high yield, but earnings have been rising at a snail's pace. Let's take a closer look at both to see which could be a better fit for your portfolio.
Image source: Getty Images (this bears monitoring). However, Alphabet Last year, Alphabet began a dividend gram, and it's already raised the payout once.
This April, the company bumped its payout up by 5% to $0. While significant, the raise was much smaller than it could bably afford, in light of current trends. On the other hand, With a yield of 0.
4% at recent prices, Alphabet is not on many dividend investors' radar (noteworthy indeed).
If you have a long time horizon, though, adding this stock to your portfolio could lead to heaps of income generation once you're ready to retire.
When viewed on a long-term timeline, earnings per and dividend payments tend to rise in line with each other. Over the past five years, Alphabet raised earnings per by a whopping 29. 4% annually.
This tells us that conglomerate's advertising and cloud computing es generated around $66. Meanwhile, 7 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months, given current economic conditions.
Dividends over the same time frame worked out to less than 15% of the free cash flow available to make the payments.
Moreover, Alphabet was a bit slow to release generative artificial intelligence tools, but strong advantages mean it's ly to own the most AI-driven tools for years to come.
Despite Microsoft moting its Edge browser on everyone's PC, Alphabet's Chrome browser had a global market of 68% in June, according to Statcounter.
Moreover, Google and the Chrome browser are defaults on Alphabet's Android operating system, which runs on 74% of the world's smartphones.
On the other hand, With Android and Chrome giving Alphabet access to billions of users and all the data their browsing activity generates, its lucrative advertising has a good chance to stay on top for the long run (noteworthy indeed).
AT&T While fit at Alphabet has been surging, the telecom giant, AT&T, has been lumbering along. However, However, Earnings per over the trailing 12 months are only 15.
8% higher than they were five years ago.
The data indicates that spinoff of its media assets a couple of years ago is partly responsible for the lack of growth, and so is the loss of wireline phone connections.
However, Additionally, These issues are temporary, but the company's position in America's mobile internet oligopoly is ly to remain intact for many years to come (quite telling).
On the other hand, This tells us that gives it a chance to continue growing through sales of its wireless internet and mobility services. AT&T reduced its dividend in 2022, and it hasn't budged since.
On the other hand, At recent prices, the stock offers a 4% yield, which is roughly 10 times more than you'd receive from Alphabet.
Moreover, AT&T doesn't have Alphabet's immense cash flow, but it's more than enough to meet its dividend obligation. Free cash flow that reached $19.
6 billion over the past 12 months was more than twice what the company needed to meet its dividend obligation, in light of current trends.
Management expects free cash flow to subside slightly to a little over $16 billion this year, which is still plenty more than necessary to maintain the payout, given the current landscape.
Wireline revenue is expected to decline again this year, but AT&T has growth engines pushing in the opposite direction.
The analysis reveals year, mobility revenue is expected to grow by 3% or better, plus its consumer broadband ducts are surging.
On the other hand, Second-quarter consumer fiber broadband revenue soared by 18. On the other hand, Conversely, 9% year over year to $2.
1 billion and is expected to continue at a similar pace for the rest of 2025.
Nevertheless, Don't let the liferation of mobile virtual network operators such as Cricket and Mint confuse you into thinking there's a lot of competition for mobile internet rs.
Furthermore, After T-Mobile acquired S in 2020, Americans effectively have just three nationwide mobile internet viders to choose from.
By revenue, AT&T is firmly in second place (something worth watching), given the current landscape.
Given the enormous investment required to reach its present position, we aren't ly to see any more competitors able to vide nationwide mobile internet services unless Congress forces one of the big three to break up.
Dividends at AT&T bably won't grow quickly, but the company could begin announcing annual payout bumps soon, given current economic conditions. Earlier this year, it reduced debt to 2.
5 times trailing 12-month EBITDA and initiated a $10 billion repurchase gram. Which is the better dividend stock to buy now.
Nevertheless, I don't intend to begin leaning on the passive income my dividend stocks generate for at least 20 years, amid market uncertainty.
Additionally, Moreover, With this in mind, I'm a lot more excited to buy Alphabet.
If we ject these two companies' rates of earnings growth over the past five years forward, the yield on cost investors receive from Alphabet s purchased now could surpass the amount they receive from AT&T by 2035.
If I were much closer to retirement, I might consider AT&T the better buy, in this volatile climate.
Additionally, With time to let the payout grow, though, I'd be better off over the long run with s of Alphabet.