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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.53.

Several analysts have recently commented on T shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 5.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,306,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $182,752,000 after acquiring an additional 402,894 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS bought a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,042,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in AT&T by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 140,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE T opened at $22.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.73. AT&T has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03. The company has a market cap of $163.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

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.