PLDT Inc is known by the ticker symbol PHI and is a member of the communication services business sector as a mid-cap telecom services enterprise. This is my second report on PHI Inc for this Vista portfolio. I last reported on PHI on April 19th. 

PLDT Inc is the telecommunications carrier in the Philippines. The company operates the nation's most extensive fixed-line network and holds more than half of the market share in the domestic wireless space. 

First Pacific, a Hong Kong-based investment and management company specializing in consumer and telecommunication businesses, owns about 26% of PLDT, while two subsidiaries of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone jointly own about 21%.

As of December 31, 2020, PLDT had 72.9 million mobile broadband subscribers; 3 million fixed-line subscribers; and 3 million fixed wireless broadband subscribers. 

The company was formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and changed its name to PLDT Inc. in July 2016. PLDT Inc. was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.

Image Source: Unsplash

Three key data points gauge dividend equities or funds like PLDT Inc:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three basic keys best tell whether any company has made, is making, and will make money. 

PHI Price

PLDT Inc's price per share was $25.45 as of yesterday's market close. One year ago its price was $27.49. So PHI price has dropped over 7.4% in the past year. 

If PHI's stock trades in the range of $20 to $35.00 this next year, its recent $25.45 price might rise by $4.55 to reach $30.00 by July 12, 2022. My estimate is $1.40 lower than the annual price upside estimate from the analyst tracking PHI a brokerage. 

PHI Dividends

PHI's most recent regular semi-annual dividend payout of nearly $0.82 was paid April 20, 2021, and added to the previous semiannual payment projects a $1.60 annual payout yielding 6.30% based on yesterday's $25.45 closing price. PHI has paid variable semi-annually for 16 years.

PHI Returns

Adding the $1.60 annual PHI forward-looking dividend to my $4.55 price upside estimate shows a $6.15 potential gross gain, per share, to be reduced by any costs to trade PLDT Inc shares.  

At Friday's $24.45 price per share, a little over $1000 would buy 41 shares.

A $10 broker fee (if charged) would be paid half at purchase and half at a sale and might cost us about $0.24 per share.

Subtract that maybe $0.24 brokerage cost from my estimated $6.15 gross gain per share results in a net gain of $5.91 X 41 shares = $242.31 for a 24.25% net gain on a $1043.45 investment.

So it is that PLDT Inc shows a possible 24.25% net gain including a 6.3% forward estimated dividend yield. 

Over the next year at this time, a $1000 investment in PHI could generate $63.00 in cash dividends alone. And a single share bought at yesterday's closing price was $25.45! Thus, PHI's share price is about 40% of dividend income from $1K invested. So, according to the dividend dogcatcher ideal, this is the prime time to pick up PHI because the dividend from $1k invested exceeds the single share price by about 60%. Consider yourself alerted.

All of the estimates above are speculation based on the past history of PLDT Inc. Only time and money invested in this stock will determine its true worth.