Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 4,685 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in American Tower Corporation by 13.0%, acquiring an additional 4,685 shares, bringing its total holdings to 40,750 shares valued at approximately $8.87 million.
• Analyst ratings for American Tower Corporation have been positive, with brokerages raising price targets; Wells Fargo set a new objective of $240.00 and Scotiabank increased theirs to $248.00.
• The company reported an EPS of $2.75 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but showed a 9.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,750 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 4,685 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $8,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 19,785 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,305,000 after buying an additional 5,015 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 8.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 111,461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $24,254,000 after acquiring an additional 8,633 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 53,132 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,562,000 after purchasing an additional 6,852 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 80,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,546,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its holdings in American Tower by 97.5% in the first quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 40,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,829,000 after buying an additional 20,034 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Two research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.31.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $231.30 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. American Tower Corporation has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.28 billion, a PE ratio of 59.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm's revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is presently 174.81%.

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.

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