Comcast (CMCSA) is trying to get back in investors’ good graces. The Philadelphia-based cable giant posted a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, rolled out another big stock buyback plan and said it will pay a quarterly dividend for the first time in nearly a decade. Comcast made $602 million, or 20 cents a share, up from the year-ago $390 million, or 13 cents a share. Revenue rose 14 percent from a year ago to $8.01 billion. Analysts were looking for a 17-cent profit on sales of $7.9 billion. The solid quarterly showing breaks a string of disappointing results at Comcast that had sent the stock plunging 40 percent from its highs over the past year, in spite of Comcast’s efforts to put a floor under its stock through an earlier stock-repurchase plan.

“In 2007 we delivered very healthy growth in revenue and operating cash flow, added substantial revenue generating units and generated significant earnings growth - despite a weak economy and intensified competition in the second half of the year,” said CEO Brian Roberts. “For 2008, we are confident about our competitive position and our ability to further grow our business, as illustrated by our outlook for 2008 free cash flow growth of at least 20%.”

Underlining that optimism, Comcast said it will start paying quarterly dividends at a 6.25-cent rate and plow an additional $7 billion into buying back stock. Shareholders can only hope the latest buyback will help Comcast reverse the decline in its shares. The company spent more than $3 billion buying back stock last year, but it paid an average of $23 a share - a 30 percent premium to the stock’s closing price Wednesday. Say what you will about returning cash to shareholders, but that’s money down the drain.

AT&T (T) shares jumped after the big telco expanded its stock buyback plan and boosted its quarterly dividend by 13 percent. AT&T will repurchase 400 million shares through 2009, cutting its outstanding share count by 7 percent. “This latest dividend increase, combined with the new share repurchase authorization, reflects the strength of AT&T’s operations, and our board’s confidence in the future of our business and our ability to continue to deliver strong results,” CEO Randall Stephenson said.

Those results, driven by the company’s recent acquisition spree and efforts to expand into video, have pushed AT&T stock up 16 percent this year. The focus on bolstering the stock price won applause from a Wachovia Securities analyst who called AT&T “a strong return-of-capital story,” Bloomberg reported. That’s a story Wall Street doesn’t mind buying into.