AT&T (NYSE:T) Raised to “Buy” at DZ Bank

DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $27.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on T. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.11.

AT&T Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $23.74 on Wednesday. AT&T has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $170.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its 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 return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid 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 4.68%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in AT&T by 2.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 700,577 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,388,000 after purchasing an additional 18,869 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,159 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after buying an additional 5,549 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 79,898 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 6,085 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 5.3% in the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 22,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in AT&T in the second quarter valued at $232,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AT&T

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.