AT&T’s (T) Sector Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $22.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

T has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

T traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $22.18. The stock had a trading volume of 7,311,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,623,570. The stock has a market cap of $159.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. AT&T has a one year low of $14.74 and a one year high of $22.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.15 and a 200-day moving average of $19.08.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in T. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in AT&T by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91,578 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its position in AT&T by 356.5% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC grew its position in AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its position in AT&T by 176.6% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.