Scotiabank Cuts American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $220.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price target decreased by Scotiabank from $236.00 to $220.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AMT has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.42.

American Tower Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $185.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.04. 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 has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.