AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $32.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. AT&T traded as high as $28.49 and last traded at $28.45. 13,478,048 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 41,593,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.28.

T has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 24,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas boosted its stake in AT&T by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 41,716 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $204.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

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.