SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $257.23.

SBAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on SBA Communications from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

SBA Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBAC opened at $220.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.09. SBA Communications has a twelve month low of $183.64 and a twelve month high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The company had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.34 EPS. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.83%.

Insider Activity at SBA Communications

In other SBA Communications news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total transaction of $364,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,213,814.28. This represents a 23.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SBA Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBAC. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in SBA Communications during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in SBA Communications in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SBA Communications Company Profile

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.