AT&T (NYSE:T) Upgraded to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $26.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $22.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.76.

AT&T Trading Down 0.4 %

AT&T stock opened at $22.59 on Monday. AT&T has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $24.03. The company has a market cap of $162.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.14.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chesapeake Wealth Management lifted its position in AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.4% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in AT&T by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management increased its position in shares of AT&T by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 500 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.