Is American Tower (AMT) Worth Adding to Your Portfolio?
On Aug 12, we issued an updated research report on American Tower Corporation AMT.
American Tower reported dismal second-quarter 2015 results wherein both the top and the bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the company is optimistic about its growth prospects and has raised the 2015 outlook.
American Tower recently announced the acquisition of nearly 4,700 mobile phone towers from India’s largest telecommunications company – Bharti Airtel Ltd. In Nov 2014, Bharti Airtel’s Netherlands-based unit had signed a deal to sell its telecommunications towers in Nigeria to American Tower for about $1.05 billion.
Also, as per the latest market buzz, American Tower is considering the purchase of Saudi Arabian telecommunications company Mobily's cell tower assets. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Mobily possesses around 10,000 towers in Saudi Arabia.
India, EMEA and Latin American markets together have contributed nearly 50% of the American Tower’s organic core revenue growth. Increased spending by Airtel, Vodafone and Telefonica on 4G LTE networks has resulted in such strong growth. Moreover, the company intends to exceed 2,500 domestic leases in 2015 in addition to spending $180 million in land acquisitions. Hence, American Tower is certain that such strength in its tower portfolio will help it double its AFFO per share by 2017.
At the end of the second quarter of 2015, American Tower managed 92,275 communications towers. Geographically, the company operates 40,064 wireless towers in the U.S. and 52,211 wireless towers outside the nation. American Tower is certain about acquiring more than 100,000 towers by the end of 2015, through organic or inorganic means. The company’s organic growth will receive a further boost of nearly $21 million from multi-year equipment customer agreement annually till 2016.
Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
American Tower currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably-ranked stocks in this sector include CoreSite Realty Corporation COR, Getty Realty Corp. GTY and Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. INN. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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AMER TOWER CORP (AMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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