AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.40.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in AT&T by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,678 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 13.5% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 40,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 4,841 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 72.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 323,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,696,000 after purchasing an additional 135,603 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 40.8% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 75,861 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 22,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in AT&T by 10,357.3% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,811,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793,682 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $23.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. AT&T has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $23.29. The company has a market cap of $166.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.94.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

About AT&T

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.