What happened
AT&T (T 1.02%) wasn't headed into the weekend on a high note. On Thursday, the incumbent telecom stock lost 2% of its value, not least because a pundit reduced his price target. That decline was notably steeper than the 0.6% dip of the S&P 500 index.
So what
Well before market open, JPMorgan Chase's Philip Cusick shaved $1 off his AT&T fair-value estimation to $17 per share. In doing so, he maintained his neutral recommendation on the telecom stock.
The reasoning behind Cusick's move wasn't immediately clear. Certain recent developments are providing some support for bearishness on the stock, or at least the lack of enthusiasm for the company's prospects.
Last week, a Bloomberg report -- citing unnamed "people familiar with the discussions" -- stated that AT&T has started to consider options for its majority stake in satellite TV broadcaster DirecTV. Among those potential moves are a sale of its full 70% holding, a dividend recapitalization, or the soliciting of a new investor (DirecTV is a joint venture between AT&T and private equity firm TPG).
Generally speaking, if a major asset is performing well and its majority owner isn't struggling, that owner typically has little need to consider such moves.
Now what
Meanwhile, certain long-standing investor concerns continue to dog AT&T and its stock. A major one is the company's indebtedness; as of its most recently reported quarter, total borrowings stood at nearly $162 billion. For perspective, the telecom took in less than $30 billion in revenue for the period, while its common stock equity was slightly under $102 billion.
Despite that debt burden, AT&T remains determined to keep shareholders sweet with a relatively generous dividend -- one of the main reasons many investors buy and hold the stock. At the moment, it's a high-yield dividend, paying out at 7.7%.
