Emprise Bank Invests $212,000 in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Emprise Bank bought a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,164,851,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in American Tower by 66.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in American Tower by 160.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $902,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,005 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $193,246,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $212.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $172.51 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.48 billion, a PE ratio of 89.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $215.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.93.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. American Tower’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Bank of America started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $240.25.

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.