AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Still a Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price rose 2.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $24.32 and last traded at $24.29. Approximately 14,192,591 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 38,168,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on T shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.21.

AT&T Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $175.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AT&T by 313.9% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 45,228 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 34,302 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in AT&T by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 113,611 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 28,384 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 91,465 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 17,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

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.