SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Short Interest Update

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a decline of 20.3% from the November 15th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 856,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

SBA Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:SBAC traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $212.28. 813,796 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 912,181. SBA Communications has a 12-month low of $183.64 and a 12-month high of $256.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $228.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.67.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The business had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.34 earnings per share. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is 61.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SBA Communications news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total transaction of $795,249.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,534,796.04. The trade was a 9.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBAC. State Street Corp boosted its position in SBA Communications by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,527 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,117,697,000 after acquiring an additional 81,566 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 13.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973,867 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $387,470,000 after purchasing an additional 233,179 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in SBA Communications by 5.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,269,786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $305,637,000 after purchasing an additional 62,555 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 2,821.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,216,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $292,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in SBA Communications by 15.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,190,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $233,654,000 after buying an additional 159,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SBAC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.23.

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.