Analysts Set AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Price Target at $25.76

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.76.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on T. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company.

AT&T Stock Performance

T opened at $21.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.28. AT&T has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,888,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after acquiring an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 worth $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AT&T

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.