Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 36.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,670 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $30,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock opened at $204.31 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $95.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $218.75 and its 200-day moving average is $211.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.54.

American Tower Profile

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.