Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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 for the company. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $215.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.59. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $100.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.81%.

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.