Tufton Capital Management Raises Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Tufton Capital Management grew its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in American Tower were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Personal Capital Advisors Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.7% in the first quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 2,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in American Tower by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $171.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 747,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,398,073. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $192.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.09, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.67.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 203.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

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.