American Tower Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.62 (NYSE:AMT)

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of 1.62 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th.

American Tower has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.5% per year over the last three years. American Tower has a payout ratio of 96.6% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect American Tower to earn $10.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.3%.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $184.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.31 billion, a PE ratio of 77.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $205.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.13. American Tower has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.08.

American Tower Company Profile

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.