AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• AT&T Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with one strong buy, sixteen buy, and seven hold recommendations among the 24 firms covering the company.
• The average twelve-month target price for AT&T stock is currently $30.75, with some analyst price targets reaching as high as $33.00.
• AT&T recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $1.11 and a yield of 4.2%.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.75.

T has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $33.00 target price (up from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, September 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in AT&T by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,762 shares of the technology company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 4,389 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 29,063 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $286,000. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 12.8% during the third quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the technology company's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE T opened at $26.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. AT&T has a twelve month low of $21.05 and a twelve month high of $29.79. The company has a market cap of $186.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.42. The business's fifty day moving average is $28.49 and its 200 day moving average is $27.89.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. AT&T's payout ratio is currently 63.07%.

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.

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