BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Stake in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) by 16.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 170,278 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 23,473 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in SBA Communications were worth $40,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 2,821.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,216,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $292,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174,469 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in SBA Communications in the second quarter worth $134,738,000. Long Pond Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the second quarter valued at $83,687,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 500.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 369,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,375,000 after buying an additional 307,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 420,514 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,351,000 after acquiring an additional 241,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBAC opened at $228.51 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $233.05 and a 200-day moving average of $218.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.68. SBA Communications Co. has a 12 month low of $183.64 and a 12 month high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 25.76%. The company had revenue of $667.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.34 EPS. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SBA Communications news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of SBA Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total transaction of $364,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,213,814.28. This trade represents a 23.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SBAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on SBA Communications from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.23.

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.