American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Increased by Ancora Advisors LLC

Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 132,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 12,673 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $24,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $223.49 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $172.51 and a one year high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $104.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.58 and a 200-day moving average of $202.21.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMT. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho lowered their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

American Tower Company Profile

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.