Sanford C. Bernstein Initiates Coverage on SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $218.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.90% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SBAC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on SBA Communications from $219.00 to $212.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on SBA Communications from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.17.

SBA Communications Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of SBAC stock opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.55. The company has a market capitalization of $20.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. SBA Communications has a 12-month low of $177.49 and a 12-month high of $245.16.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $719.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.80 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 36.40%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in SBA Communications by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,996,134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,320,412,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328,837 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SBA Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $302,774,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 256.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,092,612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,344,000 after buying an additional 785,850 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 811,543 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $156,977,000 after buying an additional 513,002 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of SBA Communications by 799.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 571,308 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,166,000 after buying an additional 507,815 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its core business is the leasing of space on communications towers, rooftop sites and other wireless structures to mobile network operators, broadband providers and other wireless service customers. The company also provides site development, construction and ongoing site management services to support the deployment and operation of wireless networks.

In addition to traditional macro towers, SBA offers a range of infrastructure solutions designed for dense urban and suburban markets, including small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and fiber backhaul and transport services.