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

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $254.92.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SBAC. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen increased their price target on SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 6.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 10,419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,739 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of SBA Communications by 8.4% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 51,120 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,035,000 after buying an additional 3,946 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in SBA Communications during the second quarter worth $342,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SBA Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBAC opened at $203.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $218.98 and its 200-day moving average is $220.90. SBA Communications has a 1-year low of $183.64 and a 1-year high of $255.90.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 25.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.34 EPS. Analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is 61.83%.

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.