AT&T (NYSE:T) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $24.03 and last traded at $23.68, with a volume of 13155396 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given 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 an average price target of $23.53.

AT&T Stock Up 4.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $169.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.17.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 19.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 140,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after acquiring an additional 23,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 640,725 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,096,000 after acquiring an additional 10,954 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in AT&T by 386.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 266,565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,864,000 after purchasing an additional 211,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.