This Company Looks Like a Dividend Champion in the Making, and It Could Announce Another Dividend Hike Next Month

Core Viewpoint - T-Mobile is positioned as a potential Dividend Champion, having initiated its dividend in 2023 and showing strong business performance, but it has a long way to go to meet the criteria of raising dividends for 25 consecutive years [11]. Group 1: Company Performance - T-Mobile's business has been thriving, with shares increasing over 14% year-to-date as of August 14 [4]. - For Q2, T-Mobile reported diluted earnings per share of $2.84, a 14% year-over-year increase, and total revenue grew nearly 7% [5]. - The company achieved postpaid net customer additions of 1.7 million, marking its highest second-quarter additions ever [5]. Group 2: Dividend Information - T-Mobile initiated its quarterly dividend at $0.65 in 2023 and raised it to $0.88 in September 2024, representing a 35% increase [8]. - The current annual yield stands at 1.40%, which is modest but reflects a quick start for a company with less than two years of dividend payments [8]. - The company has a trailing 12-month free cash flow yield of 4.25% and a payout ratio of nearly 31%, indicating the dividend is sustainable [9]. Group 3: Future Dividend Prospects - Management has indicated an intent to grow the dividend by 10% annually, with another hike potentially coming next month [10]. - T-Mobile has paid out approximately $3.78 billion in dividends over the last year, with guidance for $17.8 billion in free cash flow this year, sufficient to cover the dividend payout [9]. Group 4: Debt and Acquisitions - At the end of Q2, T-Mobile had $6.4 billion in short-term debt and over $75 billion in long-term debt, with cash and cash equivalents around $10.3 billion [12]. - The company's debt is partly attributed to eight acquisitions made since 2021, which have contributed to revenue and free cash flow growth [12][13].