Mizuho Issues Pessimistic Forecast for American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Stock Price

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its target price decreased by Mizuho from $221.00 to $204.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank decreased 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.67.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $179.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $196.42 and its 200 day moving average is $212.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMT. Balentine LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,156,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in American Tower by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,128,000 after buying an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in American Tower by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 25,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,980,000 after buying an additional 8,195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Company 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.