River Road Asset Management LLC Buys 5,787 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,147 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 5,787 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $21,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,163 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 13.8% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,613,000 after buying an additional 4,660 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 27.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,401 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,029,000 after buying an additional 4,430 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 29.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 41,284 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,157,000 after buying an additional 9,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in American Tower during the first quarter valued at about $164,300,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Up 0.8 %

American Tower stock traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $213.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,302,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,270,249. The firm's 50 day moving average is $227.63 and its 200 day moving average is $209.79. The company has a market cap of $99.89 billion, a PE ratio of 90.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.84. 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 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.85.

American Tower 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.