AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has been a very unloved telecom stock for some time now. That being said, it just so happens that most of the high-yielding Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) members rarely stay down and out forever. Perhaps it is being driven by analyst calls, or perhaps because it is a defensive stock, but bargain buyers have started to return to AT&T shares.

AT&T is even trouncing Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) in interest so far on Thursday. AT&T is a lower priced stock than Verizon, but it trades almost 28 million shares, versus more than 39 million shares on average each day — yet at the same time AT&T traded 9.3 million shares, versus 4.45 million shares for Verizon. And AT&T was up 1.3% at $33.38, versus a 0.4% gain in Verizon to $46.55.

Thursday’s move is not a day watch and is not a call that AT&T will keep rising and beat Verizon on the day. The issue to consider is that AT&T has been unloved for so long that the buying volume stands out hand over fist. To show this even more, the DJIA was down 0.2% at the same time.

AT&T shares were also down only two cents to $32.96 on Wednesday, a day that the DJIA had 25 of 30 components losing money, for a total DJIA drop of 114 points.

One driving force on Wednesday may be carrying over on Thursday. That is that AT&T was reiterated with an Outperform rating and with a $37 price target at Credit Suisse. The firm had positive things to say and was comfortable with its estimates and projections after a sit-down with AT&T’s chief financial officer.

Another boost may be that AT&T seems unlikely to go out and acquire Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD). Vodafone now has all of the post-Verizon cash, and it is making acquisitions of its own. Vodafone also has a market cap of close to $100 billion, versus almost $175 billion for AT&T and $193 billion for Verizon.

Lastly, AT&T is a defensive stock. If investors grow wary of the stock market, they can fall back on the 5.6% yield and the notion that most of its business is considered being North American. Even its low growth or no growth can be overlooked by a defensive investor, particularly with AT&T trading at less than 13 times this year’s expected earnings.

Whatever the driving force, AT&T is finding some investor love again. It trades at $33.38, its 52-week range is $31.74 to $39.00 and the consensus price target is $35.50.

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