American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James raised American Tower from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $230.42.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $234.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.61 billion, a PE ratio of 53.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $236.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $201.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the business’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 value of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors 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.