By Kim Khan
Investing.com - AT&T (NYSE:T) enjoyed a rise Wednesday following a bullish call from the sell side.
AT&T (NYSE:T) shares rose 1.3% in midday trading.
Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) initiated coverage of the stock today with a buy rating and a price target of $44.
“AT&T has unique scale across a wide range of media and communications businesses,” Deutsche said.
It also noted that while it has underperformed rival Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and the S&P 500 in the last 3-, 5- and 10-year periods, it's been the better stock over Verizon in the last year with its focus on containing costs.
AT&T (NYSE:T) stock is up more thean 27% in the past 12 months and barely above water so far this year.
The focus on costs should help the company to “return to a more shareholder friendly capital allocation strategy featuring share repurchases,” Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) added.
Wall Street currently has an average price target of a little lower than $39 per share, according to a poll of 28 analysts by Investing.com.