American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $185.08, but opened at $190.00. American Tower shares last traded at $189.21, with a volume of 487,933 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.31.

American Tower Trading Up 2.5 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 269.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 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.