Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock

AT&T (NYSE:T) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE T opened at $26.85 on Wednesday. AT&T has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $27.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of T. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 41.4% in 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. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its position in AT&T by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 21,927 shares during the last quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $691,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 37,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 15,680 shares during the last quarter. 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.