Intact Investment Management Inc. Acquires 7,200 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.36.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $171.69. 1,701,397 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,597,943. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $219.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.29 and a 200 day moving average of $193.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The stock has a market cap of $80.07 billion, a PE ratio of 53.97, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.67.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.