SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $260.00. The stock had previously closed at $201.89, but opened at $192.12. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. SBA Communications shares last traded at $193.45, with a volume of 325,968 shares trading hands.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of SBA Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on SBA Communications from $276.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on SBA Communications from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $266.00 to $253.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SBA Communications presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $258.23.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

In related news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total transaction of $430,966.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,007,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,300,157 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $931,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524,302 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 140.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,143,877 shares of the technology company's stock worth $429,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,764 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $286,079,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in SBA Communications by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,358,037 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $271,838,000 after buying an additional 727,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new position in SBA Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $92,725,000. 97.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SBA Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.75.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.21. SBA Communications had a net margin of 18.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. SBA Communications's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. SBA Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.03%.

SBA Communications Company Profile

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC.