American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• American Tower shares jumped 7.5%, opening at $176.91 versus a prior close of $166.73. The stock last traded near $178.81.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $215.48, implying further upside from recent levels.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $2.71 per share, well above the $1.57 estimate, while revenue rose 4.6% year over year to $2.75 billion. American Tower also declared a $1.79 quarterly dividend, equating to a 4.0% annualized yield.

Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $166.73, but opened at $176.91. American Tower shares last traded at $178.8130, with a volume of 1,827,300 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $210.00 price target on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $198.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on American Tower from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded American Tower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.48.

American Tower Stock Up 7.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company's 50-day moving average price is $172.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.88.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $1.14. American Tower had a return on equity of 32.76% and a net margin of 31.08%.The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. American Tower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.000-11.170 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rajesh Kalathur purchased 2,829 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $177.00 per share, with a total value of $500,733.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,374,405. This represents a 57.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert Joseph Meyer sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.89, for a total transaction of $894,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,833,254.92. This represents a 18.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,791 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,091. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,490,943,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in American Tower by 28,121.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 37,686,978 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,616,703,000 after buying an additional 37,553,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in American Tower by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,987,534 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,719,634,000 after purchasing an additional 71,605 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,325,943 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,264,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,780 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,948,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,219,894,000 after purchasing an additional 59,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Company Profile

American Tower Corporation NYSE: AMT is a global real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops communications infrastructure. Its portfolio includes wireless and broadcast towers, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems and other facilities that support wireless communications, television and radio broadcasting, government communications and other connectivity services.

The company leases space on its communications sites to wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and other customers.

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