AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares shot up 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $21.98 and last traded at $21.86. 3,079,775 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 35,741,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on T shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.38.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $156.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.71.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of T. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,999,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,539 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in AT&T by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in AT&T by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after buying an additional 1,569,374 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $985,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $575,070,000 after buying an additional 315,580 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

About AT&T

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.