AT&T (NYSE:T) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $26.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. AT&T traded as high as $19.19 and last traded at $19.19, with a volume of 106594 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.11.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on T. StockNews.com cut AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in AT&T by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 50,457 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in AT&T by 17.2% in the second quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 51,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $987,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in AT&T by 11.3% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 32,645 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,305 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in AT&T by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 140,702 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 4,874 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in AT&T by 52.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 94,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 32,698 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Down 0.8 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced 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. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.90%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

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.