Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $4.81 Million in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,814,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973,867 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $387,470,000 after buying an additional 233,179 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 2,821.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,216,094 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $292,714,000 after buying an additional 1,174,469 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 15.5% in the 2nd 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 986,487 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $213,773,000 after buying an additional 33,507 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 874,945 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $210,600,000 after buying an additional 72,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of SBA Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $257.23.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

In other SBA Communications news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total transaction of $364,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,213,814.28. This represents a 23.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

SBA Communications Price Performance

Shares of SBA Communications stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $220.66. 579,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 923,501. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $234.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.97. SBA Communications Co. has a 1-year low of $183.64 and a 1-year high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.34 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. SBA Communications's payout ratio is 61.83%.

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.