AT&T (NYSE:T) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $28.50. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. AT&T traded as high as $27.63 and last traded at $27.68, with a volume of 3616825 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.41.

T has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $198.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

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.