Oppenheimer: AT&T's Payout Ratio Has Upside, Stock Is Worth $40/Share

Courtesy of Benzinga.

In a report published Wednesday, Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan maintained an Outperform rating on AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), while raising the price target from $36 to $40.

AT&T is poised is record robust FCF growth, driven by the company’s new services and cross selling. An improvement in wireless pricing is also expected to have a positive impact on the company’s future performance.

In the report Oppenheimer noted, “… now that AT&T is winding down Project VIP, we forecast greater FCF generation, which makes the dividend yield look attractive.”

“We believe Project Agile will improve costs by enabling commoditized network equipment and also shifting customer service costs toward self-serve. Eventually, we expect T to shut down its TDM-based network; we estimate that Agile could lead to $3B of cost savings by 2018,” analyst Timothy Horan mentioned.

AT&T’s plans to invest $3 billion for expanding its network in Mexico is expected to have an initial dilutive impact in 2015, but be accretive thereafter.

“Between the Mexican expansion, DTV synergies, and Project Agile, we believe there are multiple avenues for AT&T to improve EPS and FCF. In addition, the growth of IoT could provide a compelling revenue stream down the road,” Horan added.

Posted-In: OppenheimerAnalyst Color Price Target Reiteration Analyst Ratings