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

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $241.00. The stock had previously closed at $201.89, but opened at $192.12. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. SBA Communications shares last traded at $193.45, with a volume of 325,968 shares.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on SBAC. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America raised SBA Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $276.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SBA Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $263.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SBA Communications news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total transaction of $430,966.23. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

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

SBA Communications Stock Down 4.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $209.91 and its 200 day moving average is $222.86.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. SBA Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 85.03%.

About SBA Communications

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.