SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $241.00. The stock had previously closed at $201.89, but opened at $192.12. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. SBA Communications shares last traded at $193.45, with a volume of 325,968 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. KeyCorp cut their target price on SBA Communications from $276.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of SBA Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total transaction of $430,966.23. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBAC. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in SBA Communications by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 272,065 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,854,000 after acquiring an additional 16,244 shares during the period. Legacy Trust bought a new stake in SBA Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,256,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 18.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 36,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,122,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP grew its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 13,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SBA Communications Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $209.91 and its 200 day moving average is $222.86.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.21. SBA Communications had a net margin of 18.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $657.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $671.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. 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.