AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.2% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $21.78 and last traded at $21.78. 4,556,249 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 35,426,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.69.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.97.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP purchased a new position in AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth $23,888,000. Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth about $7,438,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in AT&T by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,486,000 after purchasing an additional 288,093 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 642.2% in the 2nd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after buying an additional 90,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,827,000 after buying an additional 43,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.