AT&T (NYSE:T) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Argus currently has $27.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on T. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer started coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.83.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T opened at $22.30 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.31. The company has a market capitalization of $159.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its 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. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $414,563,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602,586 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630,972 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in AT&T by 110.3% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,155,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $117,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228,888 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1,901.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,166,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,518,000 after buying an additional 3,008,549 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 41.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.