AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Plans $0.28 Quarterly Dividend

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 28th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.2775 per share by the technology company on Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%.

AT&T has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 18.9% per year over the last three years. AT&T has a payout ratio of 49.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect AT&T to earn $2.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.11 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.9%.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE T traded down $0.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.20. 35,072,594 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,189,161. AT&T has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $28.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $202.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.51.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on T shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in AT&T stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,579 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,188 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

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.