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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.98 and last traded at $25.96, with a volume of 5341650 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on T. Scotiabank raised their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.38 and its 200-day moving average is $22.20. The stock has a market cap of $187.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.59.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 305.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,541,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,918,000 after buying an additional 1,161,152 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 58,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 292,688 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,439,000 after acquiring an additional 49,590 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 247,992 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after buying an additional 77,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 35.0% during the third quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. now owns 31,629 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 8,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.