Dean Investment Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Dean Investment Associates LLC decreased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,264 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partners Group Holding AG raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,438,000 after buying an additional 28,988 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after acquiring an additional 314,769 shares in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in American Tower by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $218.41 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.78. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The stock 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 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 (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target 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. 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.