SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on SBAC. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down previously from $260.00) on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SBA Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.77.

SBA Communications Price Performance

SBAC stock opened at $197.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $212.49 and a 200 day moving average of $221.36. The company has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.69. SBA Communications has a 1 year low of $183.64 and a 1 year high of $252.64.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.17 by ($0.77). The firm had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is currently 61.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

In other news, 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 value of $795,249.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,588 shares in the company, valued at $7,534,796.04. This represents a 9.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,743.14. The trade was a 31.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SBA Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in SBA Communications during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in SBA Communications by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in SBA Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.