Morningstar Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 9,344 SBA Communications Corporation $SBAC

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management initiated a new position in SBA Communications, buying 9,344 shares worth about $1.8 million in the fourth quarter.
• The stock continues to be heavily owned by institutions, with 97.35% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors; several large firms also increased their stakes recently.
• SBA Communications reported better-than-expected EPS of $3.47 in its latest quarter, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share to be paid on June 17.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,344 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,807,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,163,536 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,511,920,000 after acquiring an additional 403,285 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 12.3% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 9,667,297 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,869,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,803 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,752,877 shares of the technology company's stock worth $918,969,000 after acquiring an additional 139,696 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,034,920 shares of the technology company's stock worth $393,615,000 after acquiring an additional 179,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 14.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,376 shares of the technology company's stock worth $349,069,000 after acquiring an additional 231,838 shares during the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBAC opened at $205.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.03. SBA Communications Corporation has a 1 year low of $162.41 and a 1 year high of $243.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $202.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.82.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.22. SBA Communications had a net margin of 35.66% and a negative return on equity of 20.90%. The firm had revenue of $719.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $725.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.47 earnings per share. SBA Communications's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SBA Communications Corporation will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. SBA Communications's dividend payout ratio is 52.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $248.00 price target (up from $247.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $244.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $218.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SBA Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.22.

SBA Communications Company Profile

SBA Communications Corporation NASDAQ: SBAC is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its core business is the leasing of space on communications towers, rooftop sites and other wireless structures to mobile network operators, broadband providers and other wireless service customers. The company also provides site development, construction and ongoing site management services to support the deployment and operation of wireless networks.

In addition to traditional macro towers, SBA offers a range of infrastructure solutions designed for dense urban and suburban markets, including small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and fiber backhaul and transport services.

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