AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $21.78 and last traded at $21.81. Approximately 4,739,356 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 35,682,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.38.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.75.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AT&T during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,888,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AT&T by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,486,000 after acquiring an additional 288,093 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 642.2% during the 2nd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 90,255 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,827,000 after purchasing an additional 43,062 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,074,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.