Analysts Set SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Target Price at $254.92

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $254.92.

SBAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James increased their price target on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total value of $795,249.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,534,796.04. This represents a 9.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,743.14. This trade represents a 31.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBAC. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 687,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $141,205,000 after purchasing an additional 226,878 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in SBA Communications by 214.3% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in SBA Communications by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in SBA Communications by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 16.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,254,460 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,024,049,000 after acquiring an additional 605,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ SBAC opened at $198.93 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.31. SBA Communications has a 12-month low of $183.64 and a 12-month high of $252.64. The company has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.69.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that SBA Communications will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is currently 61.83%.

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.