SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, an increase of 25.5% from the October 31st total of 1,100,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 875,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Transactions at SBA Communications

In related news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total value of $364,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,213,814.28. The trade was a 23.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SBA Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of SBA Communications by 13.0% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,222 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of SBA Communications by 8.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of SBA Communications by 19.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,573 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of SBA Communications by 19.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SBA Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,505,000. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBAC opened at $226.25 on Monday. SBA Communications has a fifty-two week low of $183.64 and a fifty-two week high of $258.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.45. The company has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.68.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The business had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.34 EPS. SBA Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 61.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBAC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SBA Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.23.

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.