AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on T. Wolfe Research raised shares of AT&T from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $20.81.

AT&T Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $16.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.57. AT&T has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $18.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 166.7% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 16,250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lipe & Dalton bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.