AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.6% After Dividend Announcement

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares shot up 0.6% on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $28.56 and last traded at $28.36. 8,962,893 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 36,084,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on T. Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $203.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.