Avenir Corp Lowers Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Avenir Corp lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,062 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 20,586 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 8.2% of Avenir Corp's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Avenir Corp owned about 0.09% of American Tower worth $80,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,784,000. Destination Wealth Management grew its position in shares of American Tower by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 94,992 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $22,091,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in American Tower by 19.3% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 7,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $218.41 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.10 billion, a PE ratio of 92.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.07.

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.

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