AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 2.8%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares rose 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.28 and last traded at $17.22. Approximately 12,774,973 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 39,065,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer upgraded AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.81.

AT&T Trading Up 1.7 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.52%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of T. Sora Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,265,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,258,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $259,219,000 after purchasing an additional 383,015 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,929 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the period. Retireful LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $1,163,000. Finally, Terril Brothers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 594,974 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,937,000 after buying an additional 202,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

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.