ADT (NYSE:ADT) Stock Price Up 8.6% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• ADT shares jumped 8.6% to approximately $7.46 on substantially higher-than-average trading volume.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook: ADT has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $8.13, with ratings ranging from Buy to Sell.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while paying a $0.055 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.9% annualized yield.

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 8.6% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $7.60 and last traded at $7.4580. Approximately 11,993,362 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 26% from the average daily volume of 9,546,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ADT. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ADT in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on ADT in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on ADT from $7.75 to $7.25 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ADT has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.13.

ADT Stock Up 9.1%

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The security and automation business reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. ADT had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. ADT has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.910-0.910 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ADT Inc. will post 0.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0550 per share. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. ADT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ADT by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 39,887,288 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $262,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529,422 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of ADT by 19.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,427,968 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $54,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382,292 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in ADT during the second quarter worth $34,130,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in ADT by 191.1% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 3,637,287 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $23,897,000 after buying an additional 2,387,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in ADT by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,387,488 shares of the security and automation business's stock worth $22,273,000 after buying an additional 840,819 shares in the last quarter. 87.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ADT

ADT Inc is a security and smart-home services company that provides monitored protection and automation solutions for residential and commercial customers. Its offerings include professionally installed security systems, 24-hour alarm monitoring, video surveillance, fire and life-safety systems, access control, home automation and related emergency response services.

The company serves customers primarily in the United States, offering solutions designed to help protect homes, businesses and other facilities from burglary, fire and other risks.

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