American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $235.08.

AMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.71. 788,396 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,349,315. The company has a market capitalization of $86.31 billion, a PE ratio of 77.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83. American Tower has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $205.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.13.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. NBT Bank N A NY increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,693 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its holdings in American Tower by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,933 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 2,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of American Tower by 4.2% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.