American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $235.85.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

American Tower Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AMT traded up $1.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $213.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,287,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,270,181. American Tower has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. 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 stock has a market cap of $99.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.50, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $227.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.49.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 269.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

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.