SBA Communications Corporation $SBAC Shares Sold by Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 92.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,365 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 64,077 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in SBA Communications were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in SBA Communications by 27.5% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 38,988 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,538,000 after acquiring an additional 8,404 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 24.6% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,855,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $358,728,000 after acquiring an additional 366,491 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in SBA Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,618,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in SBA Communications by 3.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 187,654 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,283,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,163,536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,511,920,000 after purchasing an additional 403,285 shares during the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on SBA Communications from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on SBA Communications from $233.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on SBA Communications from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.17.

SBA Communications Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ SBAC opened at $188.04 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.17. The company has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.86. SBA Communications Corporation 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 firm had revenue of $719.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that SBA Communications Corporation will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 52.47%.

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.