SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Short Interest Update

SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of 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. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 899,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SBAC. Raymond James upped their price objective on SBA Communications from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp upped their target price on SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $257.00 to $254.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of SBA Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.77.

SBA Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:SBAC traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $203.61. 697,679 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 859,807. SBA Communications has a 12-month low of $183.64 and a 12-month high of $252.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $211.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.69.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that SBA Communications will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark R. Ciarfella sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.33, for a total transaction of $795,249.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,534,796.04. This trade represents a 9.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Donald Day sold 2,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.43, for a total transaction of $472,161.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,743.14. This trade represents a 31.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SBA Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in SBA Communications during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SBA Communications by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. 97.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.