AT&T (NYSE:T) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• AT&T's shares recently reached a new 52-week high of $29.79, with a trading volume of over 1.3 million shares.
• Equity analysts have mixed ratings on AT&T, with one Strong Buy, seventeen Buy, five Hold, and one Sell ratings, and an average price target of $30.60.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.54, exceeding the consensus estimate, along with a revenue of $30.85 billion.

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $29.79 and last traded at $29.73, with a volume of 1360346 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.60.

AT&T Trading Up 0.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $212.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is 63.07%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 1.7% in the second quarter. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. now owns 21,253 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Financial & Tax Architects LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 4.9% in the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 7,588 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL raised its stake in AT&T by 2.0% in the second quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 18,386 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 3.5% in the second quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 10,464 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,910 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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