AT&T shares hit three-decade low as lead cables risk weighs

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Shares of AT&T Inc fell nearly 7% to hit their lowest level in thirty years on Monday, after analysts downgraded the stock following a news report that the telecommunications giant left toxic lead cables buried across the U.S. A Wall Street Journal report on July 9 named AT&T and Verizon among several telecom giants that abandoned a sprawling network of underground toxic lead cables, with a huge number of them possibly contaminating neighboring soil and drinking water sources.

Analysts at Citigroup and JPMorgan both lowered their recommendations on AT&T shares in recent days. The stock has lost a quarter of its value so far this year, having dropped more than 12% since the Wall Street Journal report.

The shares hit a low of $13.68 in Monday's session, the lowest since March 1993. AT&T faces unquantifiable financial risks that would create a «long term overhang» for the stock since the company probably has a significant exposure to the toxic lead cables with its network reaching about 40% of homes in the U.S., Citi analysts, led by Michael Rollins, said in an investor note.

Rollins cut his rating on AT&T's stock to «neutral» from «buy» and slashed his price target to $16 from $22. AT&T did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

U.S. Telecom, a lobby group representing AT&T, Verizon and other telecoms firms, said many considerations are made in deciding whether cables are removed or left buried and there's no evidence showing «legacy lead-sheathed telecoms cables» are the «leading cause of lead exposure or the cause of a public health issue.» «We have not seen, nor have regulators identified, evidence that legacy lead-sheathed telecom cables are a leading cause of lead exposure or the cause of a public