AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T – Get Free Report) dropped 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $21.97 and last traded at $22.01. Approximately 7,179,802 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 35,522,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

Read Our Latest Report on AT&T

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $157.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its position in AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 0.7% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AT&T by 2.1% in the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthCare Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

See Also