AT&T (NYSE:T) Hits New 52-Week High Following Strong Earnings

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) hit a new 52-week high on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $24.30 and last traded at $24.01, with a volume of 12623998 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.72.

The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%.

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 paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on T. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630,972 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,986,064 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,341,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,688 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in AT&T by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,543,563 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $399,467,000 after buying an additional 325,073 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in AT&T by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,016 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.51. The company has a market cap of $175.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T Company Profile

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.