American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target Cut to $220.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price target cut by BMO Capital Markets from $228.00 to $220.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AMT. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho began coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a neutral rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $176.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $189.49 and its 200-day moving average is $194.40. American Tower has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that American Tower will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

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.