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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.76.

A number of research firms have commented on T. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock.

AT&T Trading Down 1.8 %

AT&T stock opened at $22.20 on Wednesday. AT&T has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.17. The company has a market capitalization of $159.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in AT&T by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 202.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 822,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,718,000 after purchasing an additional 550,583 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 5,378.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,780 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 3,711 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors lifted its holdings in AT&T by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 22,903 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 38,931 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.