Empire Life Investments Inc. Has $13.97 Million Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T by 7.5%, owning 494,090 shares valued at approximately $13.97 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• AT&T received multiple "buy" ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.66.
• AT&T announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, resulting in a 4.0% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 63.07%.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 494,090 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 39,777 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $13,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. Keystone Financial Group lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 216,980 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,322,000 after buying an additional 143,744 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. DigitalBridge Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 2,865,814 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,255,000 after buying an additional 365,776 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 123,247 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,302,000 after buying an additional 9,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,109,933 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,389,000 after buying an additional 102,419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.66.

AT&T Stock Up 1.3%

T opened at $27.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.64 and a fifty-two week high of $29.19. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.80 and its 200 day moving average is $26.88. The stock has a market cap of $198.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.42.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.07%.

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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