Short Interest in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Expands By 45.3%

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, an increase of 45.3% from the December 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 899,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

SBA Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBAC traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.61. The company had a trading volume of 697,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,807. The company has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $211.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.07. SBA Communications has a 12-month low of $183.64 and a 12-month high of $252.64.

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 analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is 61.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $257.00 to $254.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $7,534,796.04. The trade was a 9.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total value of $472,161.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,743.14. This represents a 31.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $656,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 13.4% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 26,380 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after acquiring an additional 3,114 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 49.6% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,864 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 15.9% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,774 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 2.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,821 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SBA Communications Company Profile

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.