AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.8% Higher – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shot up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.35 and last traded at $22.33. 4,763,267 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 35,448,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on T. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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 return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.99%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the second quarter worth $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.