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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.75.

T has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up previously from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $30.25 price objective on AT&T and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Front Row Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 182.1% during the 1st quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 412.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

T opened at $26.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $186.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T has a 52-week low of $21.05 and a 52-week high of $29.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.37 and its 200-day moving average is $27.85.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.07%.

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.