American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Overweight Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $230.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $210.00.

AMT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $228.79.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

AMT opened at $213.83 on Monday. 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 has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.22, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.60.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 20.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 177,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,383,000 after buying an additional 30,499 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 130,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,273,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 412.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares during the period. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 10,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.