Scotiabank Cuts American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $223.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective decreased by Scotiabank from $243.00 to $223.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho initiated coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a neutral rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $221.91.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $176.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.40. American Tower has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The stock has a market cap of $82.45 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.71.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in American Tower by 4.4% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $401,000. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in American Tower by 10.0% in the third quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 238,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 12.0% in the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 5,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.