AT&T (NYSE:T) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.60 and last traded at $22.60, with a volume of 181166 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lowered AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.27. The company has a market capitalization of $161.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,999,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,539 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AT&T by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after buying an additional 5,592,123 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in AT&T by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after buying an additional 1,569,374 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $985,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $575,070,000 after acquiring an additional 315,580 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.