The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $20.95 Million Position in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,054 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in SBA Communications were worth $20,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBAC. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in SBA Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total value of $364,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,213,814.28. This represents a 23.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SBAC shares. StockNews.com upgraded SBA Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SBA Communications from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.23.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of SBAC opened at $226.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.68. SBA Communications Co. has a 52 week low of $183.64 and a 52 week high of $258.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $232.78 and a 200-day moving average of $218.33.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.83%.

SBA Communications 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.