American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Reaches New 1-Year High on Earnings Beat

Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $226.09 and last traded at $225.67, with a volume of 3457079 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $221.33.

The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the first quarter worth $3,182,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in American Tower by 3.5% during the first quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 8,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 8.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at $512,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 71,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $104.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.65, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $213.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.25.

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.