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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.75.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Arete Research set a $20.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th.

AT&T Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE T opened at $23.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.39. AT&T has a 52-week low of $22.22 and a 52-week high of $29.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.48.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AT&T by 1.6% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 323,775,045 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,143,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,704,536 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 172,039,872 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,958,066,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066,026 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,228,655,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of AT&T by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 65,607,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,852,765,000 after purchasing an additional 370,455 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

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.