5 Best Recession Stocks to Buy According to Wells Fargo

4. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74

On April 21, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) released its earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2022. The company registered an EPS of $0.77 and outperformed consensus by $0.02. The company’s revenue declined by 13.28% year over year and came in at $38.11 billion, missing expectations by $129.79 million. Regardless of experiencing declining sales, the stock was named among Wells Fargo’s top recession stock picks from the communication services sector.

As of June 22, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has a dividend yield of 5.73% and a forward PE ratio of 7.55, two additional features that merited its inclusion in our selection of the best recession stocks to buy according to Wells Fargo.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is receiving Buy ratings from other financial experts as well. On June 16, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth reiterated a Buy rating on AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)  but lowered his price target on the shares to $28 from $31.

Hedge funds are initiating positions in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). At the close of Q1 2022, 74 hedge funds held stakes in the company, up from 70 positions a quarter ago. The stakes of the hedge funds in Q1 amounted to roughly $4.0 billion, down from $4.9 billion a quarter ago. 

As of March 31, Arrowstreet Capital owns the most shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), roughly 28.7 million, and is the dominating shareholder in the company.

Weitz Investment Management mentioned AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in its “Hickory Fund” fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm thinks about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T):

“After several quarters of pandemic-induced outsized growth, new broadband connection growth has slowed for U.S. cable operators. This slower growth has coincided with a renewed push by competitors like Verizon and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) to offer high-speed data (either via wireless connects or by building new fiber-optic networks).”