Shum Financial Group Inc. Invests $888,000 in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $888,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 116,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,083,000 after acquiring an additional 5,369 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Partners Group Holding AG raised its position in shares of American Tower by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 349,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,304,000 after purchasing an additional 9,890 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,843,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of American Tower stock traded down $1.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $206.54. The stock had a trading volume of 131,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,316,760. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $218.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.99. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $96.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.54.

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.