Ninepoint Partners LP Raises Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ninepoint Partners LP raised its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avalon Trust Co increased its position in shares of American Tower by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 76,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,987,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Diversified Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of American Tower by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 22,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,215,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 10,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.29.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:AMT opened at $211.02 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

American Tower 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.