Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 10,115 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,115 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in American Tower were worth $11,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 21.8% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,437,602 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in American Tower by 66.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 3.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,136,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,335,407,000 after purchasing an additional 220,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in American Tower by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,941,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,089,746,000 after purchasing an additional 455,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $149,997.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,130.25. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $212.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $218.75 and a 200-day moving average of $210.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $99.57 billion, a PE ratio of 77.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.82. American Tower Corporation has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 24.85%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 247.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $250.00 target price on shares of American Tower and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Tower from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

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.