Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 1,271 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,271 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in American Tower were worth $5,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT traded up $3.01 on Tuesday, reaching $221.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 898,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,813,748. 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 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.24, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $208.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.22.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. American Tower's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.07.

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.