SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $1.39 EPS

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $1.39, Zacks reports. SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%.

SBA Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

SBAC stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $212.84. 1,171,244 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 764,356. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.41. SBA Communications has a 1-year low of $183.64 and a 1-year high of $252.64. The company has a market cap of $22.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.69.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.11 dividend. This is an increase from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is presently 61.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SBAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $254.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp upgraded SBA Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of SBA Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total transaction of $795,249.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,588 shares in the company, valued at $7,534,796.04. The trade was a 9.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,743.14. The trade was a 31.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.