Financial Advocates Investment Management Raises Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in American Tower were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $463,000. Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 6.4% in the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 14,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the first quarter worth approximately $465,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth $844,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in American Tower by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 138,048 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,277,000 after purchasing an additional 17,424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $211.26 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $98.68 billion, a PE ratio of 89.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.20.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. Mizuho raised their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

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.