AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price shot up 1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $25.93 and last traded at $25.88. 31,683,390 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 38,630,956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on T shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Up 1.0 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. On average, equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.