AT&T (NYSE:T) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on T. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.62.

AT&T Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE T opened at $26.80 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.96 and its 200-day moving average is $24.31. AT&T has a one year low of $16.39 and a one year high of $29.03. The firm has a market cap of $192.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,216,665,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of AT&T by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after buying an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,741,000 after buying an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.