SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Raises Dividend to $1.11 Per Share

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 1.11 per share by the technology company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. This is an increase from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98.

SBA Communications has raised its dividend payment by an average of 19.1% per year over the last three years. SBA Communications has a dividend payout ratio of 42.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect SBA Communications to earn $12.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.1%.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

SBAC stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $212.84. 1,171,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 764,356. SBA Communications has a one year low of $183.64 and a one year high of $252.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $202.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.41.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The technology company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $1.39. SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. On average, equities analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SBAC shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on SBA Communications in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $254.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.00.

SBA Communications Company Profile

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.