AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Down 0.9%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $15.94 and last traded at $16.09. Approximately 56,368,796 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 73% from the average daily volume of 32,633,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on T shares. Oppenheimer upgraded AT&T from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. TheStreet raised AT&T from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.68.

AT&T Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $115.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $17.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.44 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 11.76%. AT&T's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 16,250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Lipe & Dalton purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.