AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $26.25 and last traded at $26.24. Approximately 6,448,751 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 37,220,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.33.

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.