AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.06.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

AT&T Trading Up 0.7 %

AT&T stock opened at $20.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. AT&T has a 52 week low of $14.12 and a 52 week high of $20.87.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 107.5% in the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently 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.