Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 336,071 Shares of SBA Communications Corporation $SBAC

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,267,351 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 336,071 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.18% of SBA Communications worth $245,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SBA Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,282,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 34.4% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 195,104 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,723,000 after buying an additional 49,947 shares in the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the third quarter valued at about $7,011,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 5.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 83,356 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,596 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of SBA Communications in the third quarter valued at about $1,862,000. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SBAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $219.00 to $212.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on SBA Communications in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $218.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.17.

SBA Communications Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SBA Communications stock opened at $187.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.77 and a 200-day moving average of $193.04. SBA Communications Corporation has a 1-year low of $177.49 and a 1-year high of $245.16.

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

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is presently 52.47%.

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.