SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $232.1667.

SBAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on SBA Communications in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $218.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $219.00 to $212.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a report on Friday, January 9th.

SBA Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBAC opened at $167.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.86. SBA Communications has a 1 year low of $162.41 and a 1 year high of $245.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.53.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $719.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.80 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 36.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SBA Communications will post 12.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SBA Communications

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 179,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,696,000 after buying an additional 16,265 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in SBA Communications by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,780,000 after buying an additional 9,270 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in SBA Communications by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in SBA Communications by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $351,082,000 after acquiring an additional 9,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC raised its stake in SBA Communications by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 29,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,735,000 after acquiring an additional 4,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its core business is the leasing of space on communications towers, rooftop sites and other wireless structures to mobile network operators, broadband providers and other wireless service customers. The company also provides site development, construction and ongoing site management services to support the deployment and operation of wireless networks.

In addition to traditional macro towers, SBA offers a range of infrastructure solutions designed for dense urban and suburban markets, including small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and fiber backhaul and transport services.