Loudon Investment Management LLC Buys 950 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. American Tower makes up 1.3% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,754,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $115,000. Commerce Bank raised its position in American Tower by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in American Tower by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 45,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AMT opened at $214.19 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $195.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.38, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.