AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $21.78 and last traded at $21.78. Approximately 4,556,249 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 35,426,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.69.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new stake in AT&T during the second quarter worth about $23,888,000. Talbot Financial LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,438,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in AT&T by 12.2% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,486,000 after buying an additional 288,093 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its position in AT&T by 642.2% during the second quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 90,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 4.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,827,000 after acquiring an additional 43,062 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

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.