American Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• American Assets Investment Management LLC has invested approximately $19.37 million in American Tower Corporation, acquiring 88,997 shares, making it the firm's 11th largest holding.
• American Tower recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.60 per share, slightly beating analysts' expectations, although its revenue decreased by 9.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $6.80 and a yield of 3.2%.

American Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 88,997 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $19,366,000. American Tower comprises approximately 1.4% of American Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in American Tower in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 100.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $250.00 price objective on shares of American Tower and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.88.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $1.08 on Wednesday, reaching $208.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,633,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,092,103. American Tower Corporation has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $97.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.99, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 247.27%.

American Tower 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.