AT&T (T) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

RF vs. TBK: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

In the latest trading session, AT&T (T) closed at $29.91, marking a -0.76% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.18%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.14%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.74%.

Coming into today, shares of the telecommunications company had lost 2.9% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 7.12%, while the S&P 500 lost 6.19%.

T will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. In that report, analysts expect T to post earnings of $0.84 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 7.69%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $48.46 billion, up 16.28% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.51 per share and revenue of $174.96 billion. These totals would mark changes of +15.08% and +8.98%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.04% higher within the past month. T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, T is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 8.6. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 33.12.

We can also see that T currently has a PEG ratio of 1.66. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Wireless National industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 4.23 as of yesterday's close.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55, putting it in the top 21% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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