Sophron Capital Management L.P. Makes New $12.59 Million Investment in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sophron Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 68,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $12,586,000. American Tower comprises approximately 5.0% of Sophron Capital Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Partners Group Holding AG grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,438,000 after purchasing an additional 28,988 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $1,102,000. Aviva PLC lifted its position in American Tower by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 388,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,252,000 after buying an additional 46,009 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation grew its holdings in American Tower by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 42,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,815,000 after acquiring an additional 6,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $193,246,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James boosted their target price on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

American Tower Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AMT opened at $213.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $99.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $172.51 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $214.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.47. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.81%.

About American Tower

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.