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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) rose 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 trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 36,550,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Consolidated Planning Corp increased its stake in AT&T by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 21,927 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group increased its stake in AT&T by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 216,980 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after acquiring an additional 143,744 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 237,477 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,407,000 after purchasing an additional 63,359 shares during the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 2,865,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,255,000 after acquiring an additional 365,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $691,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.