AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price was up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $27.75 and last traded at $27.69. Approximately 7,758,701 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 34,219,085 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on T. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $202.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.