AT&T (NYSE:T) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $26.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $22.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.76.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock opened at $22.20 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $159.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $24.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.18.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.