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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.61.

A number of research firms have issued reports on T. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com downgraded AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer raised AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 16,250.0% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lipe & Dalton purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $17.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $124.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $17.20 and a 200 day moving average of $16.41. AT&T has a 52 week low of $13.43 and a 52 week high of $19.99.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.63%.

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.