Ally Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ally Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 18,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,301,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,074,956,000 after buying an additional 129,192 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after acquiring an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,164,851,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in American Tower by 8.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 455,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $218.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $207.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.78.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted 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. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

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.