AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.4%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price traded up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $18.67 and last traded at $18.66. 7,850,026 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 36,600,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.54.

AT&T Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.13. The firm has a market cap of $134.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.92%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 166.7% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.