AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ): Multiple Insiders Are Buying High Yield Windstream

Other telecom companies include fellow high yielders Frontier Communications Corp (NYSE:FTR) and CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL) as well as giants AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) who have slightly lower yields than the other three stocks in this peer group but are popular income plays because their size is treated as a measure of stability. Frontier’s yield hits 10%, though it is another popular short target and it reported a decline in revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter of 2012 versus a year earlier. CenturyLink- which is actually a large cap itself, with a market capitalization of $22 billion- pays a yield of just over 6%, though its stock price is down 10% in the last year and investors should check out the company’s financials before considering a purchase. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) have dividend yields between 4% and 5%, but are quite large in terms of market capitalization and also have little exposure to the broader economy with betas of 0.4 or lower. Certainly those yields, though lower than what we saw at the other three companies, are not exactly low either.

As a result AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) or Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) may be safer enough that they are worth accepting a lower yield, though in Verizon’s case we would wait to hear more about how it will settle its relationship with Vodafone. It is a plus to see insiders buying into Windstream and certainly the yield is quite high; if the stock is only going to be a small share of an income investor’s portfolio, then the company may be worth further research given that the cash flow numbers look strong at this point.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.