American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $217.90, but opened at $225.00. American Tower shares last traded at $224.13, with a volume of 674,342 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMT. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.07.

American Tower Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $97.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.87, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company's 50-day moving average price is $202.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.59.

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American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. American Tower's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 8.5% in the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in American Tower by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 5,929 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 4.3% in the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,816 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its position in American Tower by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,858 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,062,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 21,612 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,703,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.