AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.1% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) rose 0.1% during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $28.51 and last traded at $28.23. Approximately 9,686,804 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 34,285,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.20.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $202.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $25.70 and its 200-day moving average is $23.53.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AT&T

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.