SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $218.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SBAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on SBA Communications from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on SBA Communications from $233.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SBA Communications in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on SBA Communications from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, SBA Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.17.

SBA Communications Price Performance

Shares of SBAC opened at $195.69 on Thursday. SBA Communications has a 1 year low of $177.49 and a 1 year high of $245.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.68. The firm has a market cap of $20.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $719.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SBA Communications will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBAC. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 179,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,202,000 after buying an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 58.2% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,824,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 38,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,538,000 after purchasing an additional 8,404 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 24.6% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,855,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $358,728,000 after purchasing an additional 366,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Company Profile

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.