Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 53 Shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 360 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in SBA Communications were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in SBA Communications by 14,529.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 251,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,495,000 after purchasing an additional 249,610 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 420,514 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $100,351,000 after buying an additional 241,916 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in SBA Communications by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,927,000 after buying an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SBA Communications by 32.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in SBA Communications by 384.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 106,531 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,642,000 after acquiring an additional 84,536 shares during the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total transaction of $795,249.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,588 shares in the company, valued at $7,534,796.04. This trade represents a 9.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,743.14. This represents a 31.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SBAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised SBA Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on SBA Communications from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $254.92.

SBA Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBAC opened at $201.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $217.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.69. SBA Communications Co. has a twelve month low of $183.64 and a twelve month high of $252.64.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 25.76%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.34 EPS. Analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.83%.

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.