Strs Ohio Acquires New Position in AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in AT&T Inc. valued at approximately $61 million, purchasing over 2 million shares in the first quarter.
• AT&T recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54 for the quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 3.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.8%.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,157,711 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $61,020,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter worth $6,569,000. Wealth Management Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 0.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. now owns 226,046 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% in the first quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 122,238 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 4.1% in the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 19,629 shares of the technology company's stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter worth $217,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.59. 22,789,775 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,351,510. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.44. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.05 and a 12-month high of $29.79. The business's 50-day moving average is $28.31 and its 200-day moving average is $27.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is 63.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on AT&T in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.60.

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.