SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $244.00 to $247.00. The stock had previously closed at $223.28, but opened at $234.08. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. SBA Communications shares last traded at $236.38, with a volume of 19,792 shares changing hands.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on SBA Communications from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered SBA Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Citizens Jmp raised SBA Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on SBA Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.15.

Insider Activity at SBA Communications

In other SBA Communications news, VP Joshua Koenig sold 2,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.18, for a total value of $495,213.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,790.22. This represents a 26.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 352.5% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,346,255 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,497,167,000 after buying an additional 5,722,740 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SBA Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $268,287,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 23,553.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 1,126,828 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $229,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,064 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 27,449.9% during the 4th quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 991,245 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,016,000 after purchasing an additional 987,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 16.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,254,460 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,024,049,000 after purchasing an additional 605,872 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SBA Communications Stock Up 5.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $219.45 and a 200 day moving average of $216.36.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 63.98%.

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.