AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares rose 1.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $27.80 and last traded at $27.76. Approximately 6,168,765 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 36,584,763 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.32 and a 200-day moving average of $25.45.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 10,188 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in AT&T by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 240,392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in AT&T by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 635,331 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,495,000 after purchasing an additional 159,252 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 13,802 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 12,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.