AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares were up 1.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $28.34 and last traded at $28.29. Approximately 10,073,859 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 36,550,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.52. 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 company has a market capitalization of $205.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.10%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.