The Motley Foolยท2025-04-07 12:00Core Viewpoint - The article emphasizes the potential of dividend stocks as attractive investments during bear markets, highlighting their ability to provide passive income and offset share price declines. Group 1: AT&T - Following asset sales, AT&T is better positioned to deliver dependable dividends, outperforming the S&P 500 index in 2025 [3][4] - The company has refocused on its core wireless and broadband businesses, divesting WarnerMedia and DirecTV, which allowed it to pay down debt and expand its 5G and fiber networks [4] - AT&T gained 1.7 million postpaid phone customers and 1 million fiber customers in 2024, marking its seventh consecutive year of adding over 1 million high-speed internet accounts [5] - The company plans to grow its fiber network to over 50 million locations by the end of the decade, with consumer fiber broadband revenue expected to rise by "mid-teens" percentages in 2025 [6] - AT&T forecasts free cash flow of over $16 billion in 2025, with projected dividend payments exceeding $20 billion over the next three years, yielding 3.9% [7] Group 2: Kinder Morgan - Kinder Morgan is positioned to benefit from the AI boom while providing substantial cash payouts to investors [8] - The company operates the largest natural gas transmission network in the U.S., with 66,000 miles of pipeline transporting about 40% of the country's gas [9] - Kinder Morgan's fee-based contracts help insulate its business from commodity price fluctuations, reducing risks for investors [10] - The company is expected to benefit from rising U.S. LNG exports, increasing natural gas demand in the industrial sector, and a projected 160% rise in data center power demand due to the AI boom by 2030 [10][12] - With a projected cash payout of $1.17 per share in 2025, Kinder Morgan offers an attractive forward yield of 4.2% [11]