SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

SBAC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SBA Communications from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on SBA Communications from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down previously from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.46.

SBA Communications Price Performance

SBAC opened at $196.83 on Thursday. SBA Communications has a 12 month low of $183.64 and a 12 month high of $252.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.45.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that SBA Communications will post 12.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

In other SBA Communications news, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total value of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,743.14. This represents a 31.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 represents a 9.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SBA Communications

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of SBA Communications by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,927,000 after acquiring an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 20,705 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,064,000 after purchasing an additional 7,853 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 238.2% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 10,875 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 7,659 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SBA Communications by 500.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 369,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,375,000 after buying an additional 307,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in SBA Communications by 17.5% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 688,945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $126,186,000 after buying an additional 102,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

About SBA Communications

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.