Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 6,500 SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,500 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 272,065 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,854,000 after acquiring an additional 16,244 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Trust acquired a new position in shares of SBA Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,256,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 36,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,348,000 after buying an additional 5,814 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 13,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,543,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 6,248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ SBAC opened at $196.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.20 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.56. SBA Communications Co. has a one year low of $185.23 and a one year high of $264.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.30.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The technology company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $682.11 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 18.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on SBA Communications from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised SBA Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

In other SBA Communications news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total value of $430,966.23. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Company 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.