Short Interest in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Rises By 10.3%

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,020,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the December 15th total of 4,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $0.44 on Monday, hitting $190.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,882,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,167,840. The company has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Tower will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after purchasing an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after buying an additional 204,426 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,211,397,000 after acquiring an additional 243,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

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.