AT&T (NYSE:T) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.09 and last traded at $28.07, with a volume of 5539062 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company 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, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $202.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.70 and a 200-day moving average of $23.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

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