SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Upgraded at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on SBAC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on SBA Communications from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SBA Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $257.00 to $254.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.29.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBAC opened at $207.94 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $209.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.84. SBA Communications has a 52-week low of $183.64 and a 52-week high of $252.64. The company has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.69.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $667.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SBA Communications news, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,743.14. This trade represents a 31.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total value of $795,249.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,534,796.04. This represents a 9.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in SBA Communications by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 14,529.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 251,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,495,000 after purchasing an additional 249,610 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in SBA Communications by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 5,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in SBA Communications by 135.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 420,514 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $100,351,000 after purchasing an additional 241,916 shares during the period. 97.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.