Iowa State Bank Buys 324 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Iowa State Bank lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the quarter. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 88,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,230,000 after acquiring an additional 5,710 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in American Tower by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 43,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,535,000 after purchasing an additional 8,186 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 5,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 23.6% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $181.64. 985,719 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,956,822. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of 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 lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.08.

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.