Sunbelt Securities Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 40.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,043 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 218.0% during the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE AMT traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $218.06. 2,086,256 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,498,698. American Tower Corporation has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $102.08 billion, a PE ratio of 56.06, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. American Tower's revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $240.25.

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.