AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on T. New Street Research upgraded shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company.

AT&T Trading Up 1.2 %

T traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.63. 33,693,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,519,809. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $22.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.55. AT&T has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. AT&T's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company's stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management grew its stake in AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 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.