Scotiabank Increases American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $234.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Scotiabank from $220.00 to $234.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AMT. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $210.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,464,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,485,503. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $210.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.88, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower's payout ratio is 141.37%.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMT. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in American Tower by 218.0% during the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 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.