American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Short Interest Up 10.3% in December

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,020,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the December 15th total of 4,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $190.51. 2,882,489 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,167,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.54. American Tower has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.