Activist Elliott praises AT&T’s three-year plan

Bloomberg

AT&T Inc shares rose after the company won plaudits from Elliott Management Corp with a three-year plan to do much of what the activist shareholder has pressed for, including separating its chairman and chief executive officer roles.
AT&T said it would reach earnings of $4.50 to $4.80 a share by 2022, compared with analysts’ current estimate of $3.39 a share for that year.
The telecom giant also pledged to make no more major acquisitions soon and said it would separate its chairman and CEO roles after Randall Stephenson, who holds both positions, departs sometime after 2020. AT&T also said it would add two new directors.
“We commend AT&T for the positive steps announced on Monday, which will create substantial and enduring shareholder value at one of America’s greatest companies,” Elliott partner Jesse Cohn and portfolio manager Marc Steinberg said in a statement.
“It is clear to us that AT&T is committed to and accountable for creating shareholder value over the near- and long-term.”
Dallas-based AT&T and Elliott have been holding talks since the New York investor group announced about five weeks ago that it had acquired a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and was seeking reforms aimed at getting the stock moving.
AT&T gained as much as 3.9% in premarket trading and was up 1.9%. The stock has fallen for four of the past five trading days but is up more than 29% this year, while the S&P 500 Index is up nearly 20%.