Canton Hathaway LLC Acquires New Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 218.0% during the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 193.5% during the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $217.23 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $215.65 and a 200-day moving average of $203.37. The company has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.84, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower Corporation has a 1-year low of $172.51 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 174.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMT. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $240.25.

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.