Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 211,117 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,807,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on T. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock opened at $28.20 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $28.51.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.