American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.54.

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMT. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMT. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American Tower by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after buying an additional 243,061 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $209.00 on Friday. American Tower has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.29. The company has a market cap of $97.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.19, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.84. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. American Tower’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

American Tower Company Profile

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.