AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 2.5% - What's Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 2.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.04 and last traded at $26.99. 15,071,847 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 36,623,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $29.50 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.62.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $26.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 65,906 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 8,882 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the first quarter worth approximately $229,000. Emerald Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 1st quarter worth $251,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 10,281 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 1st quarter valued at $96,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Company Profile

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.