AT&T (NYSE:T) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• AT&T's stock reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $29.34 with a trading volume of over 2.12 million shares.
• Several analysts have upgraded their target prices for AT&T, with Tigress Financial raising theirs to $34.00 and JPMorgan to $33.00, reflecting positive sentiment about the company's performance.
• AT&T recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 3.8%.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $29.28 and last traded at $29.34, with a volume of 2126914 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America started coverage on AT&T in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $209.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.28.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.07%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 10,188 shares in the last quarter. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 851,823 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $19,405,000 after acquiring an additional 52,787 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $638,000. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its holdings in AT&T by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 36,221 shares of the technology company's stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 12,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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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