AT&T (NYSE:T) Hits New 52-Week High on Strong Earnings

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $24.30 and last traded at $24.01, with a volume of 12623998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.72.

The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630,972 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,986,064 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,341,693,000 after buying an additional 1,149,688 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in AT&T by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after acquiring an additional 104,700 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in AT&T by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,543,563 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $399,467,000 after acquiring an additional 325,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in AT&T by 15.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $175.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.51.

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.