SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $230.1053.

A number of analysts have recently commented on SBAC shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $233.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on SBA Communications from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on SBA Communications from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on SBA Communications from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SBA Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 272.8% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 753 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in SBA Communications by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in SBA Communications by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 105.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 164 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

SBA Communications stock opened at $171.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.97. SBA Communications has a 1 year low of $162.41 and a 1 year high of $245.16.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $719.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.80 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 36.40% and a negative return on equity of 20.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that SBA Communications will post 12.57 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.47%.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its core business is the leasing of space on communications towers, rooftop sites and other wireless structures to mobile network operators, broadband providers and other wireless service customers. The company also provides site development, construction and ongoing site management services to support the deployment and operation of wireless networks.

In addition to traditional macro towers, SBA offers a range of infrastructure solutions designed for dense urban and suburban markets, including small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and fiber backhaul and transport services.