SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SBAC. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on SBA Communications from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on SBA Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on SBA Communications from $290.00 to $260.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on SBA Communications from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded SBA Communications from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Three equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $241.67.

SBA Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

SBA Communications stock traded down $3.98 on Tuesday, hitting $212.91. 735,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,119,476. The firm has a market cap of $22.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.35. SBA Communications has a 1 year low of $183.64 and a 1 year high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.07 by ($0.56). The company had revenue of $660.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $665.21 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 19.22%. SBA Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.24 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that SBA Communications will post 12.53 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey Stoops sold 49,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.01, for a total value of $11,048,327.65. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 109,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,328,521.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,368,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,763,691,000 after acquiring an additional 88,339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,300,157 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $931,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524,302 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,091,103 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $530,492,000 after acquiring an additional 153,299 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $387,470,000 after acquiring an additional 233,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,958,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $496,765,000 after acquiring an additional 166,554 shares in the last quarter. 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.