AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Rating Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada

AT&T (NYSE:T) was upgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $26.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $22.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.12% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on T. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.76.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T opened at $22.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.17. AT&T has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $24.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in AT&T in the second quarter valued at about $23,888,000. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after acquiring an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

About AT&T

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.