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I've been keeping an eye on China Telecom Corporation Limited (HKG:728) because I'm attracted to its fundamentals. Looking at the company as a whole, as a potential stock investment, I believe 728 has a lot to offer. Basically, it is a dependable dividend payer that has been able to sustain great financial health over the past. In the following section, I expand a bit more on these key aspects. For those interested in digger a bit deeper into my commentary, read the full report on China Telecom here.

Established dividend payer with adequate balance sheet

With a debt-to-equity ratio of 19%, 728’s debt level is reasonable. This indicates a good balance between taking advantage of low cost funding through debt financing, but having enough financial flexibility and headroom to grow debt in the future. 728's has produced operating cash levels of 1.48x total debt over the past year, which implies that 728's management has put its borrowings into good use by generating enough cash to cover a sufficient portion of borrowings.

Income investors would also be happy to know that 728 is a great dividend company, with a current yield standing at 3.1%. 728 has also been regularly increasing its dividend payments to shareholders over the past decade.

Next Steps:

For China Telecom, there are three fundamental factors you should look at:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 728’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 728’s outlook.

2. Historical Performance: What has 728's returns been like over the past? Go into more detail in the past track record analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of our analysis for more clarity.

3. Other Attractive Alternatives : Are there other well-rounded stocks you could be holding instead of 728? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.