SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Short Interest Down 31.7% in March

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a decrease of 31.7% from the February 29th total of 3,340,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 982,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised SBA Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on SBA Communications from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on SBA Communications from $251.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.50.

SBA Communications Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ SBAC traded down $1.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $216.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 888,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,030,718. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $217.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.38. The firm has a market cap of $23.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.56. SBA Communications has a 52 week low of $185.23 and a 52 week high of $267.42.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The technology company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $675.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $682.11 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 18.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that SBA Communications will post 12.59 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is currently 85.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SBA Communications

In related news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total transaction of $430,966.23. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $134,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $7,422,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,060 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,582,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $10,922,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 596.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 225,128 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,113,000 after buying an additional 192,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

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.