AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 1% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares shot up 1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $22.14 and last traded at $22.14. 3,073,581 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 35,578,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $158.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 91,578 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in AT&T by 356.5% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in AT&T by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in AT&T during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.