American Tower's (AMT) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has reduced its price target for American Tower (NYSE:AMT) from $250.00 to $245.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating on the stock.
• Despite the price target cut, American Tower's current price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.12% from its previous closing price.
• Analysts have generally favorable views on American Tower, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target around $243.35.

BMO Capital Markets restated their outperform rating on shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $245.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock, down from their previous target price of $250.00.

AMT has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Tower from $223.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. HSBC lowered shares of American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.88.

American Tower Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of AMT traded up $3.79 on Wednesday, hitting $212.18. 3,232,190 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,893,405. American Tower has a one year low of $172.51 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a PE ratio of 77.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.95.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.01. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. The company's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 247.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $149,997.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 100.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 218.0% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Company 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.