SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.25 Per Share

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 1.25 per share by the technology company on Friday, March 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a 12.6% increase from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11.

SBA Communications has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.4%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. SBA Communications has a payout ratio of 48.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect SBA Communications to earn $12.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.3%.

SBA Communications Stock Up 2.8%

SBA Communications stock traded up $5.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.58. 645,918 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 876,658. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.40. SBA Communications has a one year low of $177.49 and a one year high of $245.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.87.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.22. SBA Communications had a net margin of 29.69% and a negative return on equity of 16.60%. The firm had revenue of $719.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SBAC shares. Williams Trading set a $237.00 target price on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $235.00 to $232.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.18.

SBA Communications Company Profile

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.