American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Short Interest Up 15.6% in June

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,560,000 shares, an increase of 15.6% from the May 31st total of 4,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

American Tower Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $194.38 on Monday. American Tower has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10. The stock has a market cap of $90.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $188.22 and its 200 day moving average is $194.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was 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 owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 22,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,678,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 1,760.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 98,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,144,000 after acquiring an additional 92,899 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 158,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,102,000 after purchasing an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 212,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,002,000 after purchasing an additional 35,444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Barclays dropped their price target on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.91.

American Tower Company Profile

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.