AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 2.5% - Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shot up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.04 and last traded at $26.99. 15,071,847 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 36,623,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.62.

AT&T Stock Down 2.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $192.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.31.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in AT&T by 80.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 83,381 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,358,000 after buying an additional 37,184 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 69.9% during the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 40,097 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of AT&T by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 31,450 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in AT&T by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 319,311 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,030,000 after acquiring an additional 3,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its position in AT&T by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 120,133 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 10,028 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.