SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SBAC. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on SBA Communications from $257.00 to $254.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down previously from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.77.

SBA Communications Price Performance

SBA Communications stock opened at $194.96 on Monday. SBA Communications has a fifty-two week low of $183.64 and a fifty-two week high of $252.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $213.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.36. The firm has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.69.

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 business had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 25.76%. SBA Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.83%.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in SBA Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $416,000. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 485 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in SBA Communications by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in SBA Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 5,897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

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.