American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $230.42.

Several research firms have recently commented on AMT. Scotiabank boosted their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

American Tower Trading Up 2.9 %

AMT opened at $234.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $201.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.19. The company has a market capitalization of $109.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $236.00.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 57,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,464,000 after acquiring an additional 9,765 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.