Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Holdings in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 484,332 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,307 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.45% of SBA Communications worth $122,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,801,806 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $560,838,000 after purchasing an additional 21,792 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 140.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,143,877 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $429,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,764 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 115.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,358,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,838,000 after acquiring an additional 727,163 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 1.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,209,592 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $242,124,000 after acquiring an additional 12,450 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,133,898 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $226,972,000 after acquiring an additional 6,131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

In other SBA Communications news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total value of $430,966.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on SBA Communications from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised SBA Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $268.00.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of SBAC traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.23. 644,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 826,238. SBA Communications Co. has a 12-month low of $185.23 and a 12-month high of $263.08. The company has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $210.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.70.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The technology company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $682.11 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 18.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.03%.

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.