Want $1,000 in dividend income? That’s how much you need to invest in AT&T stock

AT&T (T 1.74%) is one of the most iconic stocks of all time. The company’s history spans all the way back to late 1800smaking it one of the oldest publicly traded American companies.

In addition to its long history of existenceAT&T also paid A regular dividend for more than 30 years. And it’s a decent result. The company’s dividend is $1.11 per share annually, spread over four quarterly payments of $0.2775 per share.

This means thatat the time of writing this article, AT&T shares have a forward dividend yield (annual dividend Payment divided by shares Price) of 5.39%.

In order to Calculate how many AT&T shares an investor needs to earn $1,000 in dividend income. simply divide 1,000 by the annual dividend.

For example, here is the formula with numbers from September 4th:

At a current price of $20.59 per share, this equates to an investment of around $18,550. should generate dividend income of $1,000 over the course of a year.

Of course, it is important to remember that various factors can affect the level of income. Is ultimately generated.

First, AT&T, like all publicly traded companies, could change its dividend payouts — either up or down. In fact, AT&T cut its dividend payout in 2022 following the spin-off of its WarnerMedia assets.

Second, as the price of AT&T stock changes, so does the dividend yield of the stock. So if AT&T’s stock price falls, an investor could buy fewer shares, but could still generate $1,000 (or more) in dividend income.

Income-oriented investors must Do your research before buying dividend stocks. Remember, the financial health of a company is just as important—if not more important—than the size of an expected dividend payout.