SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $260.00. The stock had previously closed at $201.89, but opened at $192.12. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. SBA Communications shares last traded at $193.45, with a volume of 325,968 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $266.00 to $253.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $276.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $255.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $258.23.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

In other news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total value of $430,966.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SBA Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBAC. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 43,284 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,664,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in SBA Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $212,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 19,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,927,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 15,499 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,102,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 90,188 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,053,000 after acquiring an additional 17,048 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $209.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.75. The company has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.56.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.21. SBA Communications had a net margin of 18.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.03%.

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.