Better High-Dividend Value Stock: AT&T vs. IBM

AT&T (NYSE: T) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) were both once considered stable blue-chip stocks for conservative income investors. But over the past five years, AT&T posted a total return of negative 26% even after factoring in reinvested dividends. IBM generated a total return of negative 5%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 delivered a total return of 96% during the same period.

AT&T and IBM operate in different markets, but both companies took on too much debt, expanded with ineffective acquisitions, and spent too much cash on buybacks and dividends instead of improving their core businesses.

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Source Fool.com