AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.3% - Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $27.87 and last traded at $27.84. Approximately 6,888,739 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 36,295,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $200.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.12 and a 200 day moving average of $24.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 20,324 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 32.7% during the first quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 72,602 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,053,000 after buying an additional 17,910 shares during the last quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the first quarter worth about $224,000. Sfmg LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 24,313 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 323.0% during the 1st quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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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