SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Downgraded by StockNews.com

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of SBA Communications from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on SBA Communications from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on SBA Communications from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on SBA Communications from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.92.

SBA Communications Price Performance

Shares of SBAC traded down $3.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $238.83. The stock had a trading volume of 235,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,958. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.62. SBA Communications has a twelve month low of $183.64 and a twelve month high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by ($0.56). SBA Communications had a net margin of 19.22% and a negative return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $660.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $665.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

In related news, Director George R. Krouse, Jr. sold 325 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.58, for a total transaction of $71,363.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other SBA Communications news, Chairman Jeffrey Stoops sold 49,765 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.01, for a total value of $11,048,327.65. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 109,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,328,521.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director George R. Krouse, Jr. sold 325 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.58, for a total value of $71,363.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,084.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in SBA Communications by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,368,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,763,691,000 after buying an additional 88,339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,300,157 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $931,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524,302 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,091,103 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $530,492,000 after purchasing an additional 153,299 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SBA Communications by 13.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $387,470,000 after purchasing an additional 233,179 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in SBA Communications by 15.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,190,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $233,654,000 after purchasing an additional 159,433 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC.