Forget AT&T: Here Are 3 Better Dividend Stocks

AT&T (NYSE: T) certainly has more than its fair share of problems right now. Its cable TV business -- primarily DIRECTV -- lost another 627,000 customers last quarter. It's lost more than 7 million of its television subscribers in just the past couple of years. Meanwhile, its WarnerMedia arm has been struggling with COVID-19-related theater shutdowns and filming impasses. WarnerMedia's revenue fell 10% last quarter, led lower by its Warner Bros. studio.

Yet, lots of investors are still digging the company's quarterly dividend and its current yield of 7.4%. And they should. Despite its litany of challenges, last quarter's adjusted earnings of $0.76 per share was still more than enough to cover its current quarterly dividend of $0.52. And that was a notably poor quarter. Before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, AT&T was regularly earning between $0.80 and $0.90 per share, per quarter.

Nevertheless, although 35 straight years of annual dividend growth makes this telecom giant a Dividend Aristocrat one can count on, there are alternatives out there that bring a little less drama and volatility to the table. Income investors thinking about a new position in AT&T may instead want to consider Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). Let's take a closer look at these three dividend stocks.

Source Fool.com