American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Board of Directors Approves Stock Buyback Program

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 27th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buy back $2 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of American Tower in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Tower in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of American Tower in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.28.

American Tower Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AMT stock opened at $185.63 on Friday. American Tower has a 12 month low of $160.06 and a 12 month high of $202.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.27. The company has a market cap of $86.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.88.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 30.10% and a return on equity of 32.71%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.80 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 98.49%.

Key Headlines Impacting American Tower

Here are the key news stories impacting American Tower this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year outlook again after third-quarter results, while attributable adjusted funds from operations per share increased. The results suggest cash generation remains resilient despite the initial post-earnings pullback. American Tower Stock Price Dips As Q3 Results Lift Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: CoreSite, American Tower’s data-center business, continued to report rising revenue, supporting the company’s growth outlook beyond its traditional wireless-tower operations. Why Is CoreSite Lifting American Tower Guidance Again?
• Positive Sentiment: The board authorized a $2 billion share-repurchase program. Buybacks can support per-share results and signal that management views AMT shares as undervalued. Stock Repurchase Plan Approved by American Tower Board
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains constructive overall: Citigroup maintained a “buy” rating and JPMorgan maintained an “overweight” rating, leaving substantial upside in their revised targets. Analysts Offer Insights on Real Estate Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles comparing AMT with finance and real-estate peers indicate the stock’s year-to-date performance is being evaluated favorably relative to parts of its sector, but the analyst outlook across real-estate stocks remains mixed. Is American Tower Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup lowered its AMT price target to $220 from $225, while JPMorgan cut its target to $230 from $240. Although both firms remain bullish, the reductions indicate more cautious valuation assumptions. JPMorgan American Tower Rating

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rajesh Kalathur purchased 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $177.00 per share, for a total transaction of $500,733.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,374,405. The trade was a 57.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Company Profile

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its portfolio primarily includes communications towers, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems and other infrastructure used by wireless carriers, broadcasters, governments and businesses to support voice, data and video communications.

The company leases space on its sites to multiple customers, allowing them to install antennas and related equipment without building and maintaining individual tower locations.