American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Receives $225.21 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $226.29.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $206.67 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $96.61 billion, a PE ratio of 87.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.05.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 3.1% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its stake in American Tower by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in American Tower by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 44,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.