Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 3,231 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in American Tower were worth $11,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in American Tower by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 66,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,116,000 after acquiring an additional 27,983 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 425,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,101,000 after purchasing an additional 64,782 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,941,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,089,746,000 after buying an additional 455,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in American Tower by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after buying an additional 537,136 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $208.55 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.49 billion, a PE ratio of 87.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.07.

American Tower Profile

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.