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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.36.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on T. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Wolfe Research lowered AT&T from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 23rd.

AT&T Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE T opened at $23.50 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.60. The company has a market capitalization of $166.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.39. AT&T has a 1 year low of $21.98 and a 1 year high of $29.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The company had revenue of $30.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.85 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 661,355,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,139,620,000 after acquiring an additional 10,310,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 323,775,045 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,143,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,704,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 172,039,872 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,958,066,000 after buying an additional 2,066,026 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,228,655,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in AT&T by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 65,607,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,852,765,000 after acquiring an additional 370,455 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.