Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,633,241 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 30.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,142,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,633,241 shares during the quarter. American Tower accounts for about 0.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,428,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 269.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $197.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.30, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.71. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

About American Tower

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.