American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AMT. Barclays lowered their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.21.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $205.61 on Thursday. American Tower has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.09 and a 200 day moving average of $206.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $96.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.76, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,164,851,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,570,547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,421,413 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in American Tower by 160.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $902,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.