IMS Capital Management Acquires New Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

IMS Capital Management bought a new position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $344,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in American Tower by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 148,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,155,000 after buying an additional 3,247 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in American Tower by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 63,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,646,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 6,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Trading Up 0.9 %

AMT stock opened at $232.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. Mizuho raised their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.00.

American Tower 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.