American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.08.

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 note on Monday, November 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Adelante Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 2,723.4% in the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 23,224.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,941,000 after purchasing an additional 993,061 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 22,242.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,330,000 after purchasing an additional 775,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT stock opened at $184.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.20. The firm has a market cap of $86.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.