Short Interest in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Decreases By 20.3%

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) was the target of a large drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the November 15th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 856,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total transaction of $795,249.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,534,796.04. This represents a 9.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 10.9% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 76.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management raised its stake in SBA Communications by 1,957.3% during the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 1,543 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 106,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,944,000 after buying an additional 10,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in SBA Communications by 42.4% during the second quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SBA Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of SBA Communications stock traded down $1.77 on Friday, reaching $214.28. 609,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 912,591. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.67. SBA Communications has a twelve month low of $183.64 and a twelve month high of $258.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $228.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.07.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.17 by ($0.77). The company had revenue of $667.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. Research analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is currently 61.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded SBA Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.23.

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.