Zacks Research Issues Negative Outlook for AT&T Earnings

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of AT&T in a research note issued on Wednesday, November 13th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the technology company will earn $0.49 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.51. The consensus estimate for AT&T’s current full-year earnings is $2.22 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for AT&T’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.61 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.31 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.63 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.59 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.43 EPS.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on T. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank cut shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $22.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.82 and a 200-day moving average of $19.65. AT&T has a one year low of $15.64 and a one year high of $22.73.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in AT&T by 1,379.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 43.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602,586 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in AT&T by 7.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 22.0% during the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,725 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,570,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.