StockNews.com Downgrades SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) to Hold

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

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SBAC. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of SBA Communications from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $237.92.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of SBAC stock opened at $242.95 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $220.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.17. The firm has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.64, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.67. SBA Communications has a 1 year low of $183.64 and a 1 year high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.07 by ($0.56). SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $660.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $665.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.24 EPS. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that SBA Communications will post 12.53 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is 76.86%.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey Stoops sold 49,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.01, for a total transaction of $11,048,327.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 109,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,328,521.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other SBA Communications news, Director George R. Krouse, Jr. sold 325 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.58, for a total value of $71,363.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,084.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey Stoops sold 49,765 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.01, for a total transaction of $11,048,327.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 109,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,328,521.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBAC. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warwick Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.