American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $226.42.

AMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $222,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 13,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,478,000. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its holdings in American Tower by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $186.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $192.48 and its 200-day moving average is $211.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.