AT&T (NYSE:T) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Oppenheimer raised AT&T from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded AT&T from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $20.81.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $16.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $121.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. AT&T has a 12-month low of $13.43 and a 12-month high of $18.16.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of T. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in AT&T by 46.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 38,075 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 11,989 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 17,791 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 39.7% in the third quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 26,920 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 7,655 shares in the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management purchased a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $238,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 3.6% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 819,459 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,308,000 after acquiring an additional 28,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

About AT&T

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.