American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Receives $233.29 Average Target Price from Brokerages

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $233.29.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $235.06 on Monday. American Tower has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $224.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.39. The firm has a market cap of $109.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,416,004,000 after buying an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 36.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,737,760,000 after buying an additional 2,336,501 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,352,000 after buying an additional 1,576,683 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.