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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.76.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on T. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company.

AT&T Trading Down 2.2 %

T stock opened at $21.69 on Wednesday. AT&T has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $24.03. The company has a market capitalization of $155.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 79,835 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 3,549 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AT&T by 352.2% in the fourth quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 3,793 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 190,792 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 22,573 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,600,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,202,000 after acquiring an additional 7,048 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.