Poplar Forest Capital LLC Grows Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,621,350 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,490 shares during the period. AT&T makes up 4.0% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $27,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in T. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 16,250.0% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Lipe & Dalton bought a new position in AT&T during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in AT&T by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 588.2% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,622 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.9 %

T stock traded up $0.31 on Wednesday, reaching $16.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 74,184,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,342,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.43 and a 12-month high of $18.16. The firm has a market cap of $120.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.54.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.44 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 11.76%. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer raised shares of AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

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.