American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target Cut to $220.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $228.00 to $220.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho initiated coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a neutral rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $221.91.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $176.80 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.40. American Tower has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The stock has a market cap of $82.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. American Tower’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Tower will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

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.