SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $196.83, but opened at $205.40. SBA Communications shares last traded at $205.49, with a volume of 223,400 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SBAC shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down previously from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.29.

SBA Communications Stock Up 4.9 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.69.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 25.76%. The firm had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

In related news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total transaction of $795,249.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,534,796.04. This trade represents a 9.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,743.14. This trade represents a 31.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBAC. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in SBA Communications by 76.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,863 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in SBA Communications by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,751,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in SBA Communications by 14,529.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 251,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,495,000 after acquiring an additional 249,610 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in SBA Communications by 91.0% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,522,000 after acquiring an additional 5,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 135.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 420,514 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $100,351,000 after acquiring an additional 241,916 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SBA Communications Company Profile

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC.