American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Stock Has Average Price Target of $216.44

Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $216.44.

AMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Tower in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of American Tower in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, Director Rajesh Kalathur purchased 2,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $177.00 per share, for a total transaction of $500,733.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,374,405. This represents a 57.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ruth Dowling sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.81, for a total transaction of $176,891.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,855,772.73. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 11.6% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 140,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,989,000 after buying an additional 14,648 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.1% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 80,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,189,000 after buying an additional 11,201 shares during the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 11.9% during the third quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 9,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of American Tower by 4.3% during the third quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 117.0% during the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 14,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 7,552 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $195.16 on Friday. American Tower has a 52-week low of $160.06 and a 52-week high of $202.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $90.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $176.60 and a 200-day moving average of $177.54.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.64. American Tower had a net margin of 30.10% and a return on equity of 32.71%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.99%.

American Tower declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 27th that allows the company to buy back $2 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About American Tower

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its portfolio primarily includes communications towers, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems and other infrastructure used by wireless carriers, broadcasters, governments and businesses to support voice, data and video communications.

The company leases space on its sites to multiple customers, allowing them to install antennas and related equipment without building and maintaining individual tower locations.