Scotiabank Raises American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $248.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $223.00 to $248.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.78% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $246.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of American Tower in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.38.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT traded down $3.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $219.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,121,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,904. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $223.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $198.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.3% in the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.