AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.2%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares traded down 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.50 and last traded at $16.61. 14,103,023 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 39,010,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped 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. Wolfe Research upgraded AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.81.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.96 and a 200-day moving average of $16.56. The stock has a market cap of $119.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.57.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 16,250.0% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 166.7% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lipe & Dalton bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.