AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 2.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares rose 2.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $22.18 and last traded at $21.99. Approximately 83,997,703 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 73% from the average session volume of 48,470,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.43.

Key Headlines Impacting AT&T

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hedge funds increased exposure to AT&T ahead of next week’s Q2 earnings, suggesting growing institutional confidence in the stock. Hedge Funds Dial Up Holdings in AT&T Ahead of Q2 Earnings, But Say Bye to Verizon and Comcast
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank set a new $29.25 price target on AT&T, while KeyCorp recently raised multiple earnings estimates and kept an Overweight rating, reinforcing expectations for solid results and upside potential. AT&T (NYSE:T) Given New $29.25 Price Target at Scotiabank
• Positive Sentiment: AT&T said its AI system to prevent network outages cut customer downtime by more than 12 million hours, highlighting improved network reliability and a potential competitive advantage. AT&T built an AI system to prevent network outages. It reduced customer downtime by more than 12 million hours
• Positive Sentiment: AT&T’s latest carrier report showed big improvements, and Ookla analysis said AT&T offers the fastest converged wireless and fiber speeds in the nation, supporting the company’s network quality narrative. AT&T Shows Big Improvements in Latest Carrier Report
• Neutral Sentiment: AT&T is promoting Fanatics Fest NYC and broader sports-fandom activations, which are good marketing for the brand but likely less material to near-term earnings. AT&T Connects Fans to the Moments Defining Sports Culture at Fanatics Fest NYC
• Negative Sentiment: AT&T customers are facing higher monthly fees, which could add to churn or consumer frustration even if it helps revenue. AT&T customers to pay more as monthly fee jumps: Here’s why

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on T. Oppenheimer cut shares of AT&T from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AT&T from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.34.

AT&T Stock Up 2.6%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.11 and a 200 day moving average of $25.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $31.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.29 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 12.49%. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 10,188 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 4,352.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,234 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 6,094 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 26,796 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 55,730 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 9,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 207,063 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,992,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.