SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on SBA Communications from $215 to $225 while keeping an "equal weight" rating, implying roughly a 3.96% upside from the current price.
• SBA reported quarterly EPS of $3.47, beating estimates by $0.22 but with revenue of $719.6M below expectations, and the stock traded down about 1% to $216.43 following the report.
• The analyst consensus is a "Hold" with a $231.95 average target (1 Strong Buy, 7 Buy, 11 Hold), and institutional investors own about 97.35% of the shares.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $225.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the technology company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.96% from the company's current price.

SBAC has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on SBA Communications in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $218.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on SBA Communications from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on SBA Communications from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on SBA Communications from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.95.

SBA Communications Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:SBAC traded down $2.28 on Thursday, hitting $216.43. The stock had a trading volume of 704,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,547. The stock has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $189.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.33. SBA Communications has a 52-week low of $162.41 and a 52-week high of $245.16.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $719.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $725.80 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 36.40%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SBA Communications will post 12.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in SBA Communications by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,237 shares of the technology company's stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in SBA Communications by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the technology company's stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its stake in SBA Communications by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,047 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its stake in SBA Communications by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,037 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in SBA Communications by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,761 shares of the technology company's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company's stock.

About SBA Communications

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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