AT&T (NYSE:T) Upgraded by BNP Paribas to Outperform Rating

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. BNP Paribas currently has $28.50 price target on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $25.63 on Thursday. 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 has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $25.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.15 and its 200 day moving average is $21.96.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in AT&T by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 59,394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AT&T by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 12,383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, Northeast Investment Management grew its stake in AT&T by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 51,198 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is 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.