First Financial Corp IN Boosts Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

First Financial Corp IN raised its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in American Tower were worth $739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 269.0% in the 3rd 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 about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.67.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $177.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.69, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $194.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.79. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.