AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Stake Lessened by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel cut its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,599 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 14,530 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.2% in the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 47,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 31,771 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. now owns 17,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in AT&T by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital LLC increased its position in AT&T by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 26,620 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on T. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.68.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.28. The company had a trading volume of 21,123,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,357,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.48. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.43 and a 12 month high of $19.83. The firm has a market cap of $116.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 56.63%.

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.