SBA Communications Corporation $SBAC Stock Holdings Increased by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 806,735 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.76% of SBA Communications worth $155,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in SBA Communications by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,163,536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,511,920,000 after buying an additional 403,285 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of SBA Communications by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 9,667,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,869,172,000 after buying an additional 1,058,803 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,613,181 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,083,359,000 after acquiring an additional 24,793 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,855,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $358,728,000 after acquiring an additional 366,491 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 14.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,376 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $349,069,000 after acquiring an additional 231,838 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $219.00 to $212.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on SBA Communications from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on SBA Communications from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on SBA Communications from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.17.

SBA Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ SBAC opened at $188.04 on Friday. SBA Communications Corporation has a 12 month low of $177.49 and a 12 month high of $245.16. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.27.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $719.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.80 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 36.40% and a negative return on equity of 20.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that SBA Communications Corporation will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its core business is the leasing of space on communications towers, rooftop sites and other wireless structures to mobile network operators, broadband providers and other wireless service customers. The company also provides site development, construction and ongoing site management services to support the deployment and operation of wireless networks.

In addition to traditional macro towers, SBA offers a range of infrastructure solutions designed for dense urban and suburban markets, including small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and fiber backhaul and transport services.