The Telstra share price is still trading at less than half its record highs. Time to pounce?

Is the Telstra share price in the buy zone today?

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Key points

  • Telstra shares have had a decent start to the trading day
  • But the company remains less than half of what it was worth 20 years ago
  • Does this mean Telstra is a buy today?

The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price is in the green today, and decisively so. Telstra shares are presently up by a pleasing 1.32% at $3.84 a share.

That's only just behind the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is currently up by an even more robust 1.43%.

But here's a fact that will probably make Telstra investors a little more envious. Telstra is, at these levels, not even close to its all-time high. In fact, it's less than halfway there. Back in late 1999, the telco was commanding a share price close to $9 a share.

Of course, that doesn't mean too much today. Back at the turn of the millennium, the markets were in full-froth mode, with the dot-com bust about to swing its axe. And those were pre-broadband, pre-mobile phone and landline-heavy times. That near-$9-a-share Telstra was a very different beast to the company we see today.

But still, Telstra shares have had a rough time of it lately. The telco remains down 9% in 2022 thus far, and down by 0.8% over the past 12 months.

Does this mean Telstra shares are a buy today?

So, could this be the time to pounce on his famous ASX dividend share? The company is sitting on a trailing and fully franked dividend yield of 4.3% at these prices, after all.

Well, one ASX broker who thinks it is worth a look is Morgans. As my Fool colleague James covered just yesterday, Morgans has just rated the telco as an add.

It also gave Telstra a 12-month share price target of $4.60 This implies a potential upside of close to 20% over the coming year if accurate.

Morgans stated that it believes some of Telstra's assets, such as InfraCo, are worth "substantially more" than the pricing the whole company is currently commanding. Together with the woes that its rival Optus is currently facing, the broker is predicting that Telstra "looks well placed for the year ahead".

No doubt that will be music to investors' ears today.

At the current Telstra share price, this ASX 200 blue chip share has a market capitalisation of $43.8 billion.

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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