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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.31.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th.

AT&T Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of T stock opened at $21.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. AT&T has a one year low of $14.12 and a one year high of $21.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.11. The company has a market capitalization of $153.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.