Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 222,987 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 64.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 569,099 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 222,987 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in AT&T were worth $10,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,554,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 250.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 67,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 48,091 shares in the last quarter. Skopos Labs Inc. purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $839,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,827,000 after acquiring an additional 43,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in AT&T during the 1st quarter worth $9,074,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of T stock opened at $21.64 on Monday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.12 and a 1 year high of $21.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.13%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.31.

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.