Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has lowered its target price for American Tower's stock from $240.00 to $230.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating, but indicating a potential upside of 7.54% from the current stock price.
• Other research firms have provided mixed ratings and target price adjustments, with Royal Bank of Canada increasing its target to $250.00 while HSBC downgraded it to a "hold" with a $235.00 target.
• American Tower reported a quarterly EPS of $2.60, slightly above expectations, but noted a year-over-year revenue decline of 9.4% despite a substantial overall market capitalization of $100.13 billion.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.34% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AMT. Bank of America started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank raised their target price on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, HSBC lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.88.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $3.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.29. 1,147,174 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,619,207. The stock has a market cap of $99.38 billion, a PE ratio of 77.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's fifty day moving average is $218.73 and its 200 day moving average is $210.09. American Tower has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.95.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. American Tower's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,809,486 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,667,344,000 after buying an additional 434,118 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of American Tower by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of American Tower by 39.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,144,040 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,772,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309,627 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.