Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,500 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SBA Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,801,806 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $560,838,000 after purchasing an additional 21,792 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,537,428 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $662,447,000 after buying an additional 348,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in SBA Communications by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,538 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $659,594,000 after buying an additional 49,794 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 140.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,143,877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $429,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,358,037 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,838,000 after acquiring an additional 727,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary S. Chan sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total value of $430,966.23. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,549.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of SBAC stock opened at $196.06 on Friday. SBA Communications Co. has a 1 year low of $185.23 and a 1 year high of $264.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.20 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.56.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 18.51%. The business had revenue of $675.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $682.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from SBA Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. SBA Communications’s payout ratio is 85.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on SBAC shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded SBA Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on SBA Communications from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SBA Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $268.00.

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.