AT&T (NYSE:T) Upgraded at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

T has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $22.38.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE T opened at $21.91 on Tuesday. AT&T has a 1-year low of $14.12 and a 1-year high of $22.34. The company has a market cap of $157.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LifePlan Financial LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 3.2% in the third quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC now owns 25,118 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter worth about $232,000. Private Client Services LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth about $203,000. Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 20.8% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 29,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 5,061 shares during the period. Finally, VERITY Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. 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.