BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Stock Price

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $255.00 to $245.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $211.26 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.94. The firm has a market cap of $98.68 billion, a PE ratio of 89.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after purchasing an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 41.8% during 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in American Tower by 8.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,206,000 after buying an additional 302,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 16.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,571,000 after acquiring an additional 464,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $315,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,193 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.