Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stake in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,384 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,153 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.08% of SBA Communications worth $16,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in SBA Communications by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,368,209 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,763,691,000 after purchasing an additional 88,339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,300,157 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $931,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524,302 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in SBA Communications by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,091,103 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $530,492,000 after acquiring an additional 153,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in SBA Communications by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,958,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $496,765,000 after acquiring an additional 166,554 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,171,945 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $297,311,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on SBA Communications from $290.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on SBA Communications from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on SBA Communications from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on SBA Communications from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.92.

SBA Communications Stock Up 4.1 %

SBA Communications stock opened at $227.28 on Friday. SBA Communications Co. has a 52-week low of $183.64 and a 52-week high of $258.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $207.78 and its 200 day moving average is $205.70. The company has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.56, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.65.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.07 by ($0.56). The business had revenue of $660.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $665.21 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 19.22% and a negative return on equity of 9.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey Stoops sold 49,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.01, for a total value of $11,048,327.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 109,583 shares in the company, valued at $24,328,521.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Jeffrey Stoops sold 49,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.01, for a total value of $11,048,327.65. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 109,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,328,521.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George R. Krouse, Jr. sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.58, for a total transaction of $71,363.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,084.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About SBA Communications

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.